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So... that was an anime... I have questions about... everything the writers came up with, but I'm more concerned the writers were wanting to have their cheesecake and eat it, and are also trying to pull one over the censors.
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Feb 20, 2020 14:18
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So they did the Star Children better and the Maidens worse? Talk about a mismatch of priorities for an anime tie-in.
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Feb 20, 2020 18:03
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Raitzeno posted:So they did the Star Children better and the Maidens worse? Talk about a mismatch of priorities for an anime tie-in. It's not hard to do the Star Children better considering that the game doesn’t even try. That said, the anime has had quite a few sweet scenes between Itsuki and the Star Children that I honestly didn't expect. I sort of figured that the Star Children would only be around for a few seconds at the end of each episode to show them fighting the boss and that would be the extent of their involvement. I'm glad to see that they have so far gotten more attention than that. From a personal standpoint, I think this series would have been better if it didn't try and cram in as many scenes/Maiden arcs from the game as it could and instead focused more on Itsuki’s relationship with his little dungeon party. But that would require this anime to not be a marketing gimmick and actually try to be "good". AnAnonymousIdiot posted:So... that was an anime... These writers were trying to pull nothing over on the censors. These first three episodes were tame even by early 2000's standards. Like I said before, the last series of this kind I watched was Love Hina/Ikki Tousen back in the 00's. Those had more fanservicey moments in them than this and they aired like 12-15 years ago. Maybe it’s just because I haven’t kept up with anime and don't know how widespread stuff like Highschool DxD is. Maybe that show's level of fanservice is actually only a small part of the market. I was expecting DxD's level of fanservice from this going in, because I thought that’s what the majority of anime was doing. Not to say I'm disappointed (it sure as hell makes my screenshotting easier when I don’t have to censor every single thing). I just question what audience this show is aiming for at this point. You don't have the fanservice to pull in the ecchi crowd, you don't have the space to flesh out the story in order to draw in people that care about that, you don't have the time to give a spotlight to every Maiden in order to build attachment to them and pull in the harem show crowd. Basically, if the aim to is bring in sales of the game, they aren't really doing much to attract new crowds. The only thing I can think of (and this ties in to the constant scene changes) is that they tried to make this series a collection of individual clips that people would see on Youtube. Looking good/decent when seen in compilation videos, but terrible when watched as a complete show. I don’t know, this is such a weird series, game included. The Flying Twybil posted:Thank goodness I'm not actually watching this awful stuff. I hope you're enjoying this in some way or another- I wouldn't want to do it on my side, but I suppose I'm sticking around out of morbid curiosity as to how bad it's going to get. I enjoyed writing the update, does that count? Honestly, Mana was the only part where I really wanted to stop watching or skip around. I've made my dislike of that character type clear and the fact that Anime Itsuki is going along with it makes it worse. But overall? I was just kind of bored. I like this game series (although maybe that's just a case of LP'ing it creating an attachment to it), but it’s nowhere close to being a favourite game of mine, so it’s not like I can watch the anime and get worked up or angry at stuff like Ruka’s character assassination. I have a higher tolerance for fanservice than someone like you, so while you might feel uncomfortable watching this show's level of it, I'm mostly just watching and thinking "That’s it? You talk such a big game and that's as far as you're going to go?" Basically what I'm saying is, as of these first 3 episodes, I've seen worse. At this point I'm actually hoping that the show turns the dial up. I can’t write an amusing update when there's nothing going on that makes me laugh, or makes me angry, or makes me disgusted, or makes me anything. If the show keeps going like this then I may as well take a page from it and just all of you to go read through the game updates again. Give me something to work with, Conception Anime. Come on.
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Feb 20, 2020 20:03
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quote:Anime Itsuki on the other hand, Anime Itsuki is completely on board for this poo poo. I mean given the source material this might actually work? Like at least he can play off Mana and Reone which would be something. Game Itsuki is really wooden. This is about what I expected from a budget fanservice anime though.
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Feb 20, 2020 20:28
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Psycho Knight posted:It's not hard to do the Star Children better considering that the game doesn’t even try. That said, the anime has had quite a few sweet scenes between Itsuki and the Star Children that I honestly didn't expect. I sort of figured that the Star Children would only be around for a few seconds at the end of each episode to show them fighting the boss and that would be the extent of their involvement. I'm glad to see that they have so far gotten more attention than that. The thing I have to say about this, is that while it would make the anime better, it'd ruin expectations for the actual game itself. As you've already said, the game hardly even treats the Star Children as even existing. That being said, I can't really say the anime does a good job of setting expectations in the first place. Psycho Knight posted:I enjoyed writing the update, does that count? I'd say it does. Psycho Knight posted:Honestly, Mana was the only part where I really wanted to stop watching or skip around. I've made my dislike of that character type clear and the fact that Anime Itsuki is going along with it makes it worse. Mana's just plain awful. I'll leave it at that. I'll admit Ruka threw me for a loop, but I'm like you in the case I don't care enough to get worked up about it. Despite being far out of my usual tastes, I do have to say it does seem rather boring overall- nothing's really that outstanding as an attempt to market the game. Psycho Knight posted:I can’t write an amusing update when there's nothing going on that makes me laugh, or makes me angry, or makes me disgusted, or makes me anything. The VC2 experience, right there. Bad, but not bad enough to get any form of real reaction from it.
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Feb 20, 2020 22:08
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The Flying Twybil posted:The VC2 experience, right there. Bad, but not bad enough to get any form of real reaction from it. Not for me it's not. I can rant for days on VC2. I'd have plenty of material in a VC2 LP. But this anime has just been nothing. Now, that could change. I have seen thumbnails for later episodes that appear to be going in weird directions. So maybe things will get interesting when we come back to the next 3 episodes. These first 3 were mostly exposition and setup after all. At the very least there's some hope for people wishing for me to suffer. SSNeoman posted:I mean given the source material this might actually work? Like at least he can play off Mana and Reone which would be something. Game Itsuki is really wooden. See, I would normally be okay with this. I don't necessarily have anything against a protagonist with a libido (to an extent of course). I sure as hell prefer that over the chaste hero. I think the issue is just that Mana is so goddamn relentless in the anime. She never stops with that poo poo and it's always full blast. She gives Itsuki a semi-handy in the middle of the street for God's sake. So when Itsuki goes along with it, it just compounds the problem. I think I'd be okay with Anime Itsuki's personality in the game, because Mana is more subdued (compared to the anime I mean). You're right that Game Itsuki isn't particularly interesting. That's unfortunately just a common thing in these self-insert games. The only reason I got away with LP Wake in CII is because I already knew the game in advance and there was a support cast to play off of. The best I could do with LP Itsuki is to play up the video game/hero thing (which the anime actually does as well. Anime Itsuki uses RPG terminology fairly often). The other thing with LP Itsuki is that the response to my dialogue rewriting in CII wasn't well received. So for this LP I've been bound to only changing the hero's dialogue. It's hard to give him much more of a personality when you can't tinker with the dialogue of characters that he talks to. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Feb 20, 2020 |
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Feb 20, 2020 22:34
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Psycho Knight posted:Not for me it's not. I can rant for days on VC2. I'd have plenty of material in a VC2 LP. I'd ask if you wanted to switch, but I'd spend all my time complaining about the fanservice. That and I just finished my VC2 LP (backlog-wise, at least). Truth be told, I'm pretty sure we haven't seen everything yet. There were some things I saw mentioned in some of those reviews that I'm not looking forward to and I'm sure we haven't seen yet. One episode coming up soon was flagged pretty often, so we might be seeing some changes. Psycho Knight posted:The only reason I got away with LP Wake in CII is because I already knew the game in advance and there was a support cast to play off of. The best I could do with LP Itsuki is to play up the video game/hero thing (which the anime actually does as well. Anime Itsuki uses RPG terminology fairly often). The other thing with LP Itsuki is that the response to my dialogue rewriting in CII wasn't well received. So for this LP I've been bound to only changing the hero's dialogue. It's hard to give him much more of a personality when you can't tinker with the dialogue of characters that he talks to. One of these days, I'll go back and finish reading your CII LP. By the time I got a few updates in, it was pretty much already over and I joined in on this one. I'll probably go back to read it once this one's over, as I don't think I'm looking for a triple dose of anime right now.
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Feb 21, 2020 00:00
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Polsy posted:Between this, Sola, Liris, and anything else it's kind of curious that they didn't actually have anyone on the game translation team (assuming it had progressed that far) review it for terminology. Crunchyroll streams are officially licensed so they would certainly have been aware. The translation things are weird. That site you pointed to for the anime lists them as リリス and リリィ, so basically Reresu (or I guess Ririsu) and Riri. Lily seems pretty straightforward and matches the translation of the game (the sound I mean), so I would assume that the anime sub will go with the same thing when Lillie's name finally pops up in an episode. I'm not sure how the sub got "Liris" though. The name in Japanese has two of the same syllable, so why change the first "Re" to an "Li" but the second "re" to an "ri"? I could understand a little more if they had subbed it as "Lilis", but where the gently caress did "Liris" come from? Trying to even pronounce that in English is weird (is it "Leer-us" or "Lie-riss"?). Unless the sub ends up using "Liri" for Lillie and making this even stranger. Like you said, Crunchyroll usually has officially licensed stuff. Sola is another weird decision. Sora is sky in Japanese, so it's a pretty common word to run in to. Did they honestly look at all the "R" to "L" changes they were making and go "Well, I guess this supposed to be Sola"? Other than that, I went through the anime site and like you said, they do have some explanation pages up for seemingly random game things. They explain the Star Offerings (Star Wards), although they still don't mention anything about how Impurities are made or any of that stuff). They have a page mentioning party formation, although it's basically just "You need four of them to make a team". There's a page explaining Mana's history and the fact that Shang is a former God's Gift (or Marebito/Visitor). They all pretty much end with telling people to check out the game for more details, which is fair I guess since it is just a marketing thing for said game. Oh, and there's also a page talking about the tea that Itsuki drinks in one episode. Apparently they had a partnership with a cafe in Toshima City in Tokyo during the launch period for the show/game. Doesn't seem like any of the menu items are still up though, so unfortunately I can't see what was being offered (although maybe they've still got it on their Instagram). Also...   (Before anyone asks or goes looking, no, there don't appear to be chibi versions of all the Maidens. I could only find chibi Itsuki, Mahiru, Arie, Tarua, and Lillith/Lillie on the website. They only get used in the 5 "Special" pages, which explain certain terminology/aspects of the game's world.) The Flying Twybil posted:I'd ask if you wanted to switch, but I'd spend all my time complaining about the fanservice. That and I just finished my VC2 LP (backlog-wise, at least). You can keep that one, thanks. I'd rather suffer Mana than suffer Avan. If I was ever going to LP a VC game, it would be 3. But VC is one of those series that's been done quite a bit on SA. I try and avoid games like that since I like to try and do ones that haven't been LP'd yet. I think I know which episode you are talking about. I remember seeing a clip for a gameshow/The Bachelor style episode that looked like it might involve a lot of stuff which fan reviews would latch on to. I'm not entirely sure though, since I have no idea what the other episodes entail (they could be way more insane than that). At the very least, it looks like we'll have something coming down the pipes that might provoke me to react in some way. Could be fun (for other people to see me suffer through I mean). I think you'd like the rest of CII. CII took itself a little more seriously (Chlotz is the resident pervert/creeper character and he's a far cry from Mana. He also redeems himself a lot by the end of the game) and didn't have quite as much fanservice (although that may have just been a result of the route the thread chose). From a narrative perspective, I think CII was much stronger as well, but that's thanks in large part to the support cast it had. A lot more things seemed to be happening in CII because there were more people around that weren't the designated heroes/main characters. The S-Rank Girls (CII's "Star Maidens") also had vastly more interaction with each other and the plot than the Star Maidens, which helped to flesh them out a bit more. Anyway, I better stop before I break out into a full analysis. Need to save that for the post-story Final Thoughts. Point is, you should get back to CII someday. The only thing I'll caution you on is that it was my very first LP on this site and I had yet to develop my current spell/grammer checking method, so there are a lot of minor errors that didn't get caught (people in the thread only pointed out the really egregious problems I needed to fix at the time). Maybe that doesn't bother you, but it still nags at me. Unfortunately I can no longer fix any of it because you can't edit the LPArchive. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Feb 21, 2020 |
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Feb 21, 2020 16:00
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Psycho Knight posted:I'm not sure how the sub got "Liris" though. The name in Japanese has two of the same syllable, so why change the first "Re" to an "Li" but the second "re" to an "ri"? I could understand a little more if they had subbed it as "Lilis", but where the gently caress did "Liris" come from? Trying to even pronounce that in English is weird (is it "Leer-us" or "Lie-riss"?). Unless the sub ends up using "Liri" for Lillie and making this even stranger. Unexpectedly found a source for this while trying to figure out something else, regardless of the fact it's pretty evidently wrong (had to wayback machine this since they took the site down presumably when they replaced it with Plus)  Psycho Knight posted:Oh, and there's also a page talking about the tea that Itsuki drinks in one episode. Apparently they had a partnership with a cafe in Toshima City in Tokyo during the launch period for the show/game. Doesn't seem like any of the menu items are still up though, so unfortunately I can't see what was being offered (although maybe they've still got it on their Instagram). Looks like there was literally just the tea on the menu, plus a free Alfie coaster. Though they were also selling phone cases, phone batteries, key chains, and phone straps separately from that. https://twitter.com/GraffartC/status/1068324849469218817 More pictures by Tarua's voice actor - https://twitter.com/sugiyama_riho/status/1068126915154735105 Psycho Knight posted:(Before anyone asks or goes looking, no, there don't appear to be chibi versions of all the Maidens. I could only find chibi Itsuki, Mahiru, Arie, Tarua, and Lillith/Lillie on the website. They only get used in the 5 "Special" pages, which explain certain terminology/aspects of the game's world.) I don't know if these are actually used anywhere else on the site or they just made them and never used them, but you can also stick: reone.png, ruka.png, mirei.png, su.png, farun.png, yuzuha.png and koretto.png on the end of http://conception-anime.com/special/images/character- What I was trying to figure out from the old website was how they expect you to spell Femiruna, because I tried pretty much everything I could think of and either it's really weird or they didn't make one for her for some reason. No idea about Alfie either. Also if it makes anyone feel better there was a popularity contest of some sort and Mana came last. Not necessarily reassuring given the voters' taste doesn't really match up with the thread's otherwise, though. Polsy fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Feb 22, 2020 |
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Feb 21, 2020 23:42
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Polsy posted:Unexpectedly found a source for this while trying to figure out something else, regardless of the fact it's pretty evidently wrong (had to wayback machine this since they took the site down presumably when they replaced it with Plus) Dammit, why didn't I think of wayback machine. Thanks for digging all that up. I'll poke around later and see if I can track down Femiruna and Alfie. There must be an abbreviation somewhere that we're not thinking of. If I can get my hands on them all, I may replace the portraits in the Summaries sections with the Chibi pics instead. I like them, so it would nice to use them somewhere. That said, there's a chance that there isn't one for Alfie. She's left out of a lot of other stuff after all. I guess that's where they got the translation from. As you said though, it's still wrong. This just raises the question as to where that translation came from. The cafe thing is a little disappointing. Was expecting something more than just merch, considering their current tie-in offerings. That being said, the cafe does look nice. I've added it to my list of places to go during my semester in Japan. I'll be in Tama, so the trip is still quite a ways, but it's not crazy far. The poll relieves me and disappoints me. I'm glad that Mana was dead last, but I'm disappointed that my favourites like Arie and Mirei lost out to characters like Collette and Lillith/Lillie. Not that I'm especially surprised of course. Each character in the top 5 hits one of the more popular fetishes in Japan/Anime (Loli, Tsundere, Little Sister). EDIT: I got Femiruna. Apparently it was under ferumina.png.  Femiruna Chibi No luck on Alfie yet. EDIT 2: I cannot find one for Alfie. I've tried every possible spelling I can think of. One definitely exists somewhere, because there is an acrylic standee of it sold online. But what the website names her is outside of what my imagination can come up with. I can't even get a consistent spelling from press materials or interviews with Alfie's Japanese VA. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Feb 22, 2020 |
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Feb 22, 2020 00:54
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Psycho Knight posted:The poll relieves me and disappoints me. I'm glad that Mana was dead last, but I'm disappointed that my favourites like Arie and Mirei lost out to characters like Collette and Lillith/Lillie. Not that I'm especially surprised of course. Each character in the top 5 hits one of the more popular fetishes in Japan/Anime (Loli, Tsundere, Little Sister). Win some, you lose some, I guess. Seems to be how it always goes with these kinds of things. I mean, I suppose I can understand tsundere from a "playing hard to get" perspective, but the other two I just don't get. I'd really appreciate it if they'd just disappear. Edit: Psycho Knight posted:EDIT: I got Femiruna. Apparently it was under ferumina.png. They had us fooled from the start. This was their grand plan all along. The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Feb 22, 2020 |
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Feb 22, 2020 01:20
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Psycho Knight posted:EDIT: I got Femiruna. Apparently it was under ferumina.png. Oh wow. I was trying to think outside the box but not in the 'just switch the letters round entirely' sense. But yeah for Alfie how you would romanise her name from Japanese in the first place (especially on a website that isn't really for English-speaker consumption) is kind of up in the air even before you account for that so I don't have a great deal of hope.
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Feb 22, 2020 02:15
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Polsy posted:Oh wow. I was trying to think outside the box but not in the 'just switch the letters round entirely' sense. But yeah for Alfie how you would romanise her name from Japanese in the first place (especially on a website that isn't really for English-speaker consumption) is kind of up in the air even before you account for that so I don't have a great deal of hope. The Flying Twybil posted:I mean, I suppose I can understand tsundere from a "playing hard to get" perspective, but the other two I just don't get. I'd really appreciate it if they'd just disappear. I understand reasons behind liking of all of those types. I just don't agree with it. What I want to know is why those types in particular get such widespread love. The Loli/Little Sister ones are downright creepy. Polsy posted:Oh wow. I was trying to think outside the box but not in the 'just switch the letters round entirely' sense. But yeah for Alfie how you would romanise her name from Japanese in the first place (especially on a website that isn't really for English-speaker consumption) is kind of up in the air even before you account for that so I don't have a great deal of hope. Yeah. The most common form I can find is Affy (most common outside of Alfie I mean), but I've tried that in every way and no luck. Maybe they created it for merch purposes but kept it off the website to avoid anyone discovering her before she got officially revealed? I can't imagine that her chibi .png is up there considering how many things I've tried. That said, I'm not going to leave Alfie fans out in the cold. I plan to edit the chibi picture of her from the acrylic standee store page. It has 'Sample' plastered over it, but the colours seem plain so I might be able to erase the Sample portion. We'll see what I can do tomorrow when I get home.
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Feb 22, 2020 03:29
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Update XIV: I’m seeing things I thought I’d never see Song Title Reference: Dance Epidemic – By: Electric Six  So that was fun, right? We got to see the anime and all of the anime characters that only vaguely resemble the ones we’ve gotten to know over the past thirty something updates. Okay, so it wasn’t actually fun. It was fairly boring and kind of stupid. We were also exposed to a far worse version of Mana. We’ll take a step away from the anime for now and get back to game stuff.  With the Spring Labyrinth completely cleared out, we move on to Summer. It’s time for the Cancer Labyrinth. The astrological Cancer I mean, not the horrible disease.  Cancer’s design shares Ruka’s colour scheme. The gold ring thing that Ruka carries at her side is part of the column décor and the weird checkboard pattern along the bottom of Ruka’s skirt is scattered randomly across the floor. I like the colour scheme of this labyrinth, but nothing really jumps out at me in terms of everything else. I don’t think anything is going to top the column wigs from Leo. Also, we’re still rolling with the Star Children we had in the last dungeon. Voting for the new Team A(wful) is moving at a glacial pace and I still have no suggestions for Team C. I may have to just take matters into my own hands at this rate.  Not that it really matters much just yet. This Labyrinth is going to go by real fast and we’re not going to see anything approaching resistance as far as enemies go. Even the boss of this place will be torn through like wet paper. We’ve moved back to Summer Labyrinth enemies, so you’ll see a lot of those lizard things, the fire ladies, and the snake people. Itsuki is still rocking the Toxic Gauche, so he’ll be wiping out nearly everything in a single swing since a lot of these enemies are fire based.  In terms of treasure, we snag a Mysterious Robe for Magnus (Nunavut has been wearing one of these for a while now).  There are very few things of interest happening during this run. Here’s one of them. The bonus exp enemies can come in groups of three, which is the first time I’ve seen this happen in this game. Unfortunately…  —the EXP isn’t as great as you would think. We’re so powerful at this point that these guys get taken out in a single physical attack, which makes going for Chain Bonuses impossible. Oh well, it’s still easy EXP at least.  The other thing of interest is that the Item Shrine coughed up a new weapon for Itsuki.  Despite looking like a joke weapon, Bat is actually really good. It beats out Toxic Gauche in raw damage and being able to drop the enemy’s MAT by 5% isn’t bad. As fun as it would be for Itsuki to run around clubbing monsters to death with a baseball bat, I keep Toxic Gauche equipped on him for now. This dungeon plays to its strength better than Bat, since TG has Water element damage.  Anyway, that’s literally it for the dungeon. This was even less eventful than the other recent dungeons.  At least the boss looks kind of cool. Unfortunately that will be all he has going for him. Well, what does Mana have to say? Let’s at least give him a chance.  This is Scelorum of Cancer. It’s an Earth element Impurity God! It uses ranged attacks and is super tough! Take advantage of its weak point!I swear to Star God, that better not be a giant enemy crab reference.  Scelorum’s stats are about what you would expect for a boss. Now, normally that physical attack would be a little bit scary, especially when combined with the semi-decent speed. The thing is, Mana mentioned that Scelorum likes to use ranged attacks. As we can see, its ranged attacks are… limited.   There are also Crater support enemies, Earth and Fire. As usual, they will be dead before their first turn comes around.  Here is the major weakness of Scelorum. At least, this is its major weakness when fighting it way later in the game. Earthstorm just doesn’t pack a punch at our current levels. You would need a seriously jacked up MAT stat to make it work, but Scelorum doesn’t have that so it just kind of tickles our Star Children. I don’t even bother to heal this, I just send everyone off to kill the Craters.  Itsuki’s damage is limited because of the Water element of his weapon, but it doesn’t matter. Scelorum is all alone now and its damage potential is pathetic. Well, it’s magic damage potential is anyway. Physical is a bit of a different story, but it’s going to take a little while before Scelorum realizes that.  Still not there. Come on, you can figure it out.  I try Itsuki’s Terra skill again, just for fun. It’s still disappointing.  Scelorum finally decides to change tactics and start using its physical attack, which hits significantly harder than magic. Unfortunately though, it still doesn’t hit as hard as previous bosses we’ve faced. Not only that, but Scelorum can only attack a single zone at a time. I use the next turn to have Team Canada 2.0 heal up Team Psycho Knight. Scelorum attacks Team PK a second time, which brings them right back to where they just were. Itsuki then heals up Team PK and Scelorum attacks them again.  At this point the turn order shuffled Scelorum to the back and I’m given a chance to break the cycle of pointlessness. Everyone piles on the boss and Team A(wful) uses Temple Chain to trigger Chain Drive. Scelorum’s turn then slips futher back and it's quickly stabbed to death from every angle by our entire squad.  You tried, Scelorum. It was a sad try, but it was a try all the same. If we had tackled this dungeon earlier on (or if you had just upgraded your spells) then you may have posed a bigger threat.  We get some experience, some kids level up, then Itsuki seals this place. Let’s go home.  …So now what do we do… Gotta try and fill out this update with something. Well, let’s go over the shop and tavern while I try and think of something.  The shop once again gets new stock in that is already outclassed by poo poo we’ve been using for 3 dungeons now. I only show off Hard Luck because it seems to be a “Joke” weapon. Looks like a branch that one of the kids picked up off the ground.  Axe wielding classes can also grab themselves a pickaxe at this point. Neat.  Next, we can grab one of the scissor blades that the Bondsman Star Child class is shown using in their artwork. From the looks of Roy and Alberta over to the left, it’s of no use to us despite how cool it looks.  And finally, sword wielders can get back to basics by grabbing a BANBOO. Katie might actually benefit from this. One weapon type that hasn’t been seeing regular upgrades is Sword. Remember Calamity? That cool looking sword from forever ago that I was stoked about grabbing a bunch of? The sword classes are still using those. That being said, you can’t argue with the results since they still haven’t been outclassed by the shop swords. As for items, there aren’t any new ones. We’ve reached the end of the product lineup as far as items go.  The only ones we’re missing at this point are the other “Fruit” items. They give permanent stat boosts to Itsuki (or the Star Children I guess, if you felt like wasting them on characters that you’ll probably end up replacing at some point). Each boss drops a different kind of Fruit, so we’re only missing the five of them that come from the five remaining dungeons. If you want more of them, then you have to run back to the dungeon and fight the generic version of the labyrinth boss which randomly appears on Floor 14 or 15 (I’m not sure if they can appear on Floors 10-13).  I forgot to show this off. We got Thirty Arrows from a Tavern quest a little while ago. It’s another one of the “enterbrain” reference weapons. We’ve got the Sword, Bow, and Staff. So I guess we just need the Lance, Axe, and Claws.  We’re still missing a lot of the weapons/armour and I honestly don’t think we’re going to see that section of the database getting completed by the end of this LP. However, what we can complete is the Gift section of the database. We’re only missing 2. To get them, we have to go for a rematch of Sports Day.  We took a look at this event way back near the beginning of the LP. Mana will force/ask you to join during the first week of May and the festival itself will happen automatically during Week 2 of May. Back when we first looked at this, Itsuki’s Bond Level with the Maidens was far too low to win. I believe we could have won this once his Bond Level with some of the Maidens hit 3, but I haven’t bothered going back to it since that first time (remember, Mana will give you a choice to join every time after the first).  This time, we’re going in with the Bond Gauges of all Maidens at Max. Victory is assured! …Well, it’s assured for the three-legged race anyway. The three-legged race only requires that you pick a single Maiden with a strong bond.  I chose Arie here because that’s who we went with during the first Sports Festival. As you can see, not much changes in terms of dialogue if you win.  The second events are all group competitions. These events can be lost even if you have Max Bond with all the Maidens of each team. For example, let’s try the tug o’ war. Tug o’ war teams us up with Reone, Lillith, Ruka, and Collette.    Tug o’ war starts going south for Team Itsuki. You’re given a few choices as to how to respond. For the sake of one of the Gift Items that we are missing, we’re going to lose this event. That means we’ll need to do something that works against the team. I’m talking about Lillie.   Yes, if you ask Lillith to bring Lillie out for some extra muscle, she immediately turns around and starts tickling Reone. Reone smacks her on the head and brings Lillith back out. Then we lose.   If you win one event but lose the other, then Mana will present with you the Gold Medal. The last gift item that we need will require us to crush everyone at the Sports Festival.  This time, for the second event, I go with the Relay. That teams Itsuki up with Mahiru, Tarua, Femiruna, and Farun.  You have to pick one teammate to be the “Anchor”. This is the person that will be the last to get the baton and has to run the last section to the finish line. Farun backs out because she figures she wouldn’t be any good and Femiruna immediately calls dibs on going first. That means you have to pick Mahiru, Tarua, or Itsuki. I go against the obvious choice and choose Itsuki. I’m not sure what the wrong choice is here, but I would imagine that it would somehow be Tarua. She is the most obvious choice in a sport that’s all about running, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the game pulled a fake-out on you.  Tarua manages to smoke the rest of the competition and hands off the baton to Itsuki to finish the job.  Itsuki manages to overtake the first place runner and secures the win.   Clearing house in the Sports Festival will have Mana handing over the final gift item we need: Trophy. So that does it for the Gift Items. Keep in mind that if you give Gold Medal or Trophy to a Maiden as a gift, you can always grab more by winning the Sports Festival Events again. Honestly, you’re better off just keeping it as a souvenir. Gift Items are easy to come by, so you shouldn’t need to use these.  Speaking of seasonal events, let’s check on two more. We’ve already been to Star Maiden Camp, but it couldn’t hurt to go again with somebody new. The first time we did this, we—  Oh, right. I should mention that I discovered it is possible to lose at the Watermelon Smashing section of this event. I have absolutely no idea how the game determines winning or losing since I listened to the directions given by the Star Maidens that have the highest bond with Itsuki (which is currently all of them). It’s possible that maxing out the bond level of all Maidens will result in winning/losing this game being completely random. Or maybe there is some method to the madness that doesn’t rely entirely on the Bond Level. Either way, no big deal. I’m still holding on to the Watermelon item we got the first time we did this. Anyway, as I was saying, the first time we did Star Maiden Camp we chose to listen in on Arie in the hot springs and take a walk with Mirei. This time we’ll change it up.  We’ll listen to Mirei this time and then go for a walk with Femiruna. No, there was no particular reason why I picked either of these ladies. I may have been partially asleep while recording and just picked at random.   Sue… is your animal research going well? Yes… That’s good… Yes…Riveting.  Hey, ya two! What are ya just chillin’ there for? Farun, don’t disturb our relaxation. Unless you wish to be my next experiment? Ohhh, scary… Your eyes are totally serious! Mirei, don’t forget the point of Camp. But seeing everyone like this, everyone has many different shapes and colors. What are you talking about?Mirei might not be wearing her glasses right now. Who knows what she’s looking at. Comparatively, yours are large and supple. At the end… You don’t need to describe everyone. You should just stop right there.Never mind, she’s talking about tits. Is this what every conversation during this event revolves around? What? I thought the point of Camp was to understand each other? You’re such a weird one… Whatever. Let’s do the scary monster adventure to collect a piece of paper from the school. We’ll take Femiruna this time. She seemed pretty brave during that Impurity attack and she’s supposed to be a Lion… or a cat-lady… whatever. Point is, she’ll probably—    Oh, right. So, this event changes a little depending on your Bond Level. We’ve maxed out everyone, so Itsuki choosing Femiruna results in some disgruntled reactions from the other Maidens. Some of them are relatively accepting of it and others (Mahiru) get kind of pissy about it.  Most of them are just disappointed, though. Just a friendly reminder: This is the kind of poo poo that happens in a Harem. This is why Harem endings are bullshit and the only people that think they are something to be desired are teenaged boys and teenaged boys trapped in men’s bodies.  Trying to divide yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally between multiple partners isn’t awesome! It’s a nightmare! My apologies… Sorry, I have a thing about Harem Endings. Have I mentioned that we aren’t doing the Harem Ending for this game? Because we aren’t. I’m not even giving the thread the option to vote for it. I’ll give you a summary, but this LP is not canonically ending with a harem. Itsuki’s going to be a goddamn man about this and choose one person. Anyway, we were doing something with Femiruna. A haunted forest or some poo poo. I did not expect it to be this terrifying… Don’t worry about it. Even if they’re trying to scare us, they’re still friends. It’s not like we’re in any real danger.I don’t know about that. I think Mahiru would probably be willing to take a swipe at you at least. She didn’t seem pleased about getting passed over. You certainly seem composed… I’m in the labyrinths all the time. This is nothing compared to that. How brave… I see it was the right decision to not have guards. Uhh… You’re getting a little close, Femiruna… Hehe… You may not get tense around Impurities, but you certainly do around Star Maidens. What an interesting discovery…And that’s it for that event. The next scene just has Itsuki in the school hallways saying that they found the paper and are going to head back.  I’ll only subject the thread to one more event for this update. This is one that I don’t think I’ve ever even mentioned (mainly because I forgot about it completely). The Academy Festival will trigger during the first week of November. After Mana asks/forces you, the event will automatically happen on Week 2 of November.  I’m okay with earning money. I mean, we don’t need it anymore. But hey, can never have too much, am I right? Work your butts off and earn some funds for the battles ahead! I never thought I would be waitressing. I don’t know if I’ll be good at it, but I’ll do my best. Don’t worry about me. I can handle the register with my eyes closed. Of course, there’s no problem if I use Star Energy, right? Mana made me the “service girl,” but I don’t know what I should do. I guess I’ll just try not to overdo it…Well, at the very least this is a school event and therefore won’t have alcohol, so we don’t need to worry about Reone getting plastered again. …Although, I think that would have made this event better. Drunk Reone was pretty entertaining back during the welcome party.  Why am I waitressing and not cooking?! Does Mana not know the expression, “the best person for the job”?Wouldn’t the best cook be Arie? Or maybe Collette? I’m also a “service girl”… That’s why I brought all my animals… I think Mana made the right choice by making me the standout waitress. One look at my beauty will attract many customers. Augh augh! Looks like there’s tons of sweets and snacks on the menu If there are any leftovers, can I have them?No, I didn’t mess up. There really was a period missing after “menu”.   It feels like she’s making fun of us with this, but whatever…Honestly, this is probably the best thing you could have done for an Academy Festival. You’re talking about a class comprised of the 12 Star Maidens serving you drinks and snacks. Forget the dudes at the academy that would line up around the corner for that, I’d bet there are more than a few ladies that would be on board for it too (if Mahiru’s groupies are anything to go by). I was told to “service” the customers. Should I dance like I do at the bar? I’m supposed to help everyone else. I hope I can do a good job… To attract more customers, I’ll be doing my fortune-telling. I’ll do my best to get many customers. As an advertisement for my bakery, so much of my bread is here! Please look forward to it!Okay, so everyone already has a role assigned to them and Collette and Lillith are busy advertising their own businesses. Where does that leave Itsuki? So… what do I do? Why didn’t you give me a job? As the manager, you’ll be looking after the Star Maidens. While the Star Maidens are working, you can’t let them out of your sight. So I’m just keeping an eye on them? Well… I guess I can do that. All right, Star Maidens, let’s get this show on the road! Star Maiden Café is open for business!~Star God Academy Hallway~ Looks like everything is going well so far. I guess I’ll make the rounds and check in on everyone.~Star God Academy Classroom~  Let’s give it a taste… H-Hyaaaaaa?! M-M-M-Mahiru! Oh, did you finish the bread you were baking? Let me give it a try… H-Hyaaaaaaa?! Why are you both freaking out? What happened? Itsuki… this is… spicy bread… Is that what you’re selling? Let me try some… Gah! T-Tooo spicy! Too spicy! Why is it so spicy? Weren’t you the one who mixed in the spices, Mahiru? Did I not put in the right amount? Oops… And we made so many of these! What are we going to do?! I-In this case, shouldn’t we talk to the store manager?Oh, sure. Pass off your incompetence on Itsuki. Well? So here is how this event really works. Manager Itsuki needs to make a few choices throughout this event. Depending on your choices, you’ll earn more or less money at the end of the event. I haven’t played around with this to see what answers are the “best”, I just chose ones I thought would be good. The money you get isn’t amazing anyway, so it’s not super worth the time to experiment. Well… How about you change the name and sell it that way? What do you mean? If it’s super spicy, then call it something like That sounds like an item from a video game. But, compared to remaking it, I think that’s all we can do at this point.Why not? There’s no shortage of idiots willing to take on a challenge purely for bragging rights. I’m sure someone will see that and go “Pff, I bet it’s not that spicy. I could handle it.” So from now on, the name of this bread is… Hellfire Spicy Bread -- Eat it, Hero! Let’s hope it sells.With the first crisis handled, Manager Itsuki wanders around some more as he awaits his next problem. Business is going great. We’re totally full. …Hang on, where did Farun and Lillith go off to?~Star God Academy Hallway~ There you are. What are you two doing out here? Well, we’re service girls so there ain’t much for us to do. There’s too many customers here. If I try to dance, I’ll just be in the way. Right, Lillith? It’s so successful, there ain’t really a need for us service girls, no? Can we go off an’ do our own thing somewhere else? Oh no. You’re not wiggling your way out of this.  Well, if you need something to do then go help out in the café. What should we do? Since the place is full, you should help take orders and do the cooking. The others could really use some help. You’re used to this from working at the bar, right Farun? Fine. I mean, if we have to.If everyone else has to, then yes, you have to as well. Come on, don’t be that person. Don’t be a Psycho Knight. Let’s go, Farun. Aye-aye, sir! A fine day’s work, Manager Itsuki. Let’s see what we raked in. Good work, everyone! After we finish cleaning up, we’ll check today’s sales for the Star Maiden Café! Our sales for the day are…Okay, I guess everyone finished cleaning up right as Mana said that. There was no time skip or anything, Mana just goes straight into announcing the sales.  Meh. At least Itsuki seems jazzed about it. I guess that means we did good. We’ll use these profits to help bring peace to the world! Despite getting 3000G in sales, Mana only hands over half of that amount. I guess the rest went to expenses. At least, it better have gone to expenses. If we find out that Mana’s been skimming off the top, we’ll have her hide.  We also get a Maiden Tea item. 100% MP cure and status heal isn’t too bad. I can’t imagine I’ll actually ever have to use it though. Battles don’t tend to drag on long enough to burn through all of a Team’s MP. Not anymore, anyway. Probably would have been more useful earlier in the game. Okay, after this is the Circle Dance in the academy field. Those who wanna participate should head there now. Itsuki, this is a great chance to increase your bonds with the Star Maidens. You should participate in the dance. I sort of suck at dancing, but I understand that it’s important. Okay, I’ll do it. Despite what you would think, you don’t have to choose a single Star Maiden for this part of the event. Itsuki will get a short scene with all Star Maidens that he has a strong enough bond with (I don’t know exactly what level of bond is required. Level 2-3 seems like the standard for other events).  Of course, since we’ve maxed out everyone, that means Itsuki is about to be thrown all around the field from one Maiden to another. I should try this with the children. Also… Itsuki… Your hands are really warm, Arie… My body isn’t just hot from the dancing… Itsuki, you understand without me saying it, right…? Although, considering how hot under the collar the Maidens are apparently getting, maybe these scenes only trigger at Bond Level 5.*At this point, Itsuki is flung off to the next Maiden* Ah, so you decided to participate as well? Reone wouldn’t let up, so I decided to come. But what fun do people see in this? How about you? How do you feel dancing with me? I feel great. I’m glad I got the chance to dance with you. In that case, it’s a good thing I participated. And, holding hands with you like this… This means so much to me…*Off to Reone next* Haha… I had a feeling you’d participate, Itsuki. This is more fun than I expected. It’s been a while since I’ve thought that. Hey, Itsuki. The world’s problems sure seem to melt away dancing like this, don’t you think? That would be amazing if it were true. But, if we didn’t have this threat, we wouldn’t have been able to meet. …I’m sorry. I’m a failure as a Star Maiden, aren’t I? And I can’t help but be grateful for that.*You’re next, Ruka* Ah, Itsuki… I shouldn’t have participated in this dance. We aren’t holding hands, so people must think we’re weird. You’re a God’s Gift, so it’s okay for us to hold hands. What in god’s name are you talking about? You’re a Star Maiden and he's a God's Gift. You are special. Don’t worry so much about that. Just have fun. I wonder… Ah! I mean, it’s not like I particularly want to hold your hand or anything… Just hold my hands and dance. Don’t get so caught up in that stuff. Y-Yeah… let’s…*It’s Sue time* Itsuki, I finally found you… I was worried the dance would be over before I found you… I… might have been born just to meet you. I sometimes think that… Does that bother you, Itsuki? Well, not really, no.I think that might be coming on a little strong, personally. Take it easy, Sue. Bond Level 5s are coming up next. Hold it until then.  I never want to release these hands… I never want them to be apart…*It’s Femiruna’s time in the spotlight* You participated because you wanted to dance with me as well, correct? It may be embarrassing, but there is no need to hide it. I heard you would be participating, which is why I came here. You feel the same, no? Of course. I only agreed so I could dance with all of the Maidens.That’s right Itsuki, keep everyone at arm’s length for now. Oh, do not hide your feelings with all that Star Maiden talk. I am always happy to be your partner.*Tarua likes to Yay, we all get to dance together! This is super fun! Itsuki, are you having fun? Holding hands with you makes this even more fun! Glad to hear it. Itsuki, I wanna feel more of your magic hand. Not just holding hands, but… Augh, this is so embarrassing! I can’t say anymore! Augh augh!*Okay, let’s move on to Mahiru* Oh, if it isn’t Itsuki. And to think, you never once participated in a school festival back home. I never thought you would be here. Shall I lend you a handkerchief, Itsuki? Your hands must be really sweaty. Give me a break… I’m not good at this dancing thing. You know that. As long as you lead, I’ll follow whatever weird dance you come up with.*Forward to Farun* Hey, Itsuki! Dancin’ like this from time to time is fun! Hey, let’s get a bit more crazy with our dance! Itsuki, your movements are getting clumsy. Maybe you’re gettin’ nervous dancin’ with me? It’s hard not to. I’m always nervous when I dance. On top of that, I’m dancing with you. I don’t mind so long as it’s ya, Itsuki. I don’t mind many things if it’s ya…Okay Farun, let’s make sure we leave room for Jesus, alright? *Yes, it’s Yuzuha next* Ugh, Big Brother… Tarua told me this would be fun and I should participate, but… I don’t really think I’m good with this kind of thing… I want to dance with you like this forever, Big Brother… If I get better at dancing, will you dance more with me? Of course. I’m glad…*Let’s go to Lillith now* Oooh, the tempo of this dance is so fast, I can hardly keep up. Itsuki, please dance more slowly. Just move at your own pace, Lillith. We’ll stick to that. Itsuki, thank you for matching my pace. You’re always so kind to me… I don’t really care if Lillie likes him. Lillie can get bent. But, I think, more than Lillie, I… Hm? What is it? No, it’s nothing. Nothing at all…*Finally, it’s Collette* Um, Itsuki… This is an embarrassing diversion, don’t you think? Also, you’re… You’re pathetically bad at dancing. And that makes me 100% more clumsy being with you! Does that really matter? We’re friends. That… is a big mistake… I don’t think you can summarize our relationship with just the one word.  Thank god that’s done with. Okay, I’ll put everyone out of their misery now (everyone presently reading this I mean. Those of you reading this in the future probably skipped to the next update ages ago). Next update we finally get cracking on the final bonding events. It’s gonna be fun on a bun!  Mostly. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Feb 23, 2020 |
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Feb 23, 2020 03:08
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Psycho Knight posted:
Wherever there's a giant enemy crab there will always be a weak point to hit for massive damage. On the next episode of "As the Granvania Turns", Yuzuha finally admits her deep dark secret. Later, Itsuki, driven by madness, strangles Reone. Now things are getting interesting!
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Feb 23, 2020 06:03
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She says this while she is holding a basket of bread between them. Bread: "Betrayal!"
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Feb 23, 2020 06:36
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I worry still that Classmating itself has done something to everyone involved. At some point, I'll bring up new Astrology to talk on to help as a palette cleanser to the updates.
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Feb 23, 2020 07:28
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mastersord posted:Wherever there's a giant enemy crab there will always be a weak point to hit for massive damage. How many people have even played the game that spawned that meme? Hell, how many people even know the name of the game? mastersord posted:On the next episode of "As the Granvania Turns", Yuzuha finally admits her deep dark secret. Later, Itsuki, driven by madness, strangles Reone. Now things are getting interesting! Judging by the titles of the events, you’re probably not far off on at least one of those. BlazeEmblem posted:She says this while she is holding a basket of bread between them. Talk about being a third... heel.  AnAnonymousIdiot posted:I worry still that Classmating itself has done something to everyone involved. The final bonding events are coming up next, so I'd say after the next two updates or after the fourth would be a good opportunity. The next event seems to be buildup and a little bit of character development. The final event is probably where everyone has a love confession and maybe completely finishes their arc/answers any lingering mysteries.
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Feb 23, 2020 14:52
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Bonding Update XVIII: Final Bonding Events – Ophiuchus, Aries, Leo, Cancer + Virgo Summary (Part 1) Time to get this done. We’ll be wrapping up every Star Maiden’s character arc and then (eventually) pitting them against each other in a vote. Before we start, I should mention that we are firmly in parallel timeline territory now. A few of these final events are pretty definitive in terms of “Itsuki hooks up with [Star Maiden].” The true decision as to who he ends up with (for this LP anyway) will be left to the thread.  Alfie is up first. Her Matryoshka was doing something weird when we went to visit it in the Church Spirit Chamber. Let’s see what that’s all about.  Hm? Oh, it’s you, Itsuki. It’s unusual for you to come here alone. Same goes for you. This place is quiet and calming. I can also meet old friends here. So, Alfie. Right? Yeah. I stop by to say a prayer for her every now and then. I also tell her about how the Star Children are doing. Reporting to a Matryoshka? How very like you. What about you? Do you not talk to her when you’re here? Of course not. What’s the point in talking to a doll? Well, you say that, but you still come here to see her. I guess that’s very like you, though. You’ve disquieted my peace. I will make myself scarce now. Would you like to pray with me while you’re here? …  Just… say the things you would normally say to her. Like she was standing right in front of you. That’s what I do. That’s a fair summary. …You regret not being able to make up with her, don’t you? This again… What’s the point of saying that now? You told me off when I started freaking out. You know, that time you told me about her lifespan. I realized something then… You accepted her becoming a Star Maiden. …That was a little clumsy, not going to lie. I see what they were going for, but I think the dialogue wasn’t quite there to make it work. Come on, Mirei. Just pray with me. It’s for Alfie. She always wanted to become a Star Maiden even before you came to this world. On the other hand, I…  That’s why I told her that she will always be a Star Child.So you tried to make up for the sins of your grandfather… by committing a new sin and imposing your own will on her against her wishes. …Not sure that was the right choice, Mirei. But… looking back, that was a mistake.*The screen turns white as we are transported very temporarily to flashback world* Itsuki… *Back to the world of the present* Regardless of what I said to you, I am the one restricted by my past.  And… I’m sorry. Forgive me for being so foolish… Mirei…*After a few seconds of silence*  *The screen then goes white again briefly. When we fade back in…*  Y-You’re… Mirei and Instructor Itsuki. It’s kinda embarrassing, but I’m back now!That sure did happen! …..How exactly did it happen? A-Alfie?! …Wait, who are you calling “Instructor”? You’re my instructor who taught me the power of love… Impossible… You’re not a Star Child, so how…?Oh Christ, please don’t do the—  Of course they would… Hey, that line… That’s from an anime the God’s Gift from back then loved. Um… Alfie…? Itsuki… I think I heard your voice even when I was inside the Matryoshka.  Your kind voice kept me here. …Welcome home, Alfie. I’m home, Itsuki. … I’m home, Mirei. I heard your voice, too, Mirei. The whole time. So then you were coming here to talk to the Matryoshka. B-Be quiet! Huh? This is supposed to be the scene where we both cry and hug! It’s to reaffirm our friendship! Come on, Mirei! You should jump into my arms!Come on, Mirei. Give in to this dumb anime bullshit. You know you want to. You and that nerdy God’s Gift from 30 years ago are one in the same… Again, the implication from Mirei is that she knew Alfie’s God’s Gift. I just don’t see that as being possible. Mirei would have to be a minimum of 36 or 38 (she would have needed to be old enough at the time to comprehend what was going on around her). There’s no way in hell that Mirei is in her 40’s or 50’s. On top of her looks, there’s also the fact that it’s possible for her to enter a romantic relationship with Itsuki, who would be less than half her age. I still maintain that Mirei must be in her 20’s at most. I don’t believe for a second that her or Reone are over 30. Anyway, Mirei was being a tsundere or something. Let’s get back to that. One of these days, your brain will rot from watching too many dramas. Remember to water it to grow the flowers that will grow out of it.  Farewell now.*And then Mirei takes her leave* She’s never honest with herself. But it’s so like her to be that way. That’s true. Well, Itsuki… shall we? Uhh… This is the church where we Classmate, right? There’s only one thing to do here. You want to do the ritual? That’s the one! Yeah, you’re right. Let’s do it Alfie. Let’s make a Star Child. Of course. *Back from the dead Classmating happens* … … Itsuki… you don’t have to worry anymore. But if I had been more careful, you wouldn’t have gotten that big scar on your back. Well, I’m [sic] come back to life now, so it’s no biggie. And I’m satisfied with how you protected me. Come on, SC. You’re spiralling again. Keep it together. That should read “You told me not to go”. If you hadn’t, then I would have been the one to die. Then this is like a badge of honor for me. A scar like this will heal in no time anyway.I don’t know about that. That was a bad enough wound to kill you, I don’t think a scar that size or that deep is just going to fade away. …Oh, who am I kidding. It’s anime, of course it’s going to disappear. Can’t go tarnishing beauty or anything after all. Even still, I want to do something to thank you. Then… please take me to the beach when my scar goes away. The beach? Why do you want to go there? It’s like the quintessential date. We’d have the whole beach to ourselves…  Then we’d draw a heart and our names in the sand…Got this all planned out, don’t ya? Is this how you were spending your time in limbo? J-Just kidding, haha… You don’t have to kid. We’ll do it. Really?! Yes. I promise you.And that’s it for Alfie’s first event of the finale. You know, after thinking on it a bit, her coming back to life doesn’t bother me quite as much as I thought it would (Not the fact that she did come back, I meant how she came back). Don’t get me wrong, it’s cliché no matter how you try and spin this, but to be fair to the narrative, it’s not like anyone knew for sure that Alfie could permanently die after becoming a Star Maiden. She’s the only Star Child to ever “grow up” and she’s the only “Artificial Star Maiden”. Her inability to return to a Matryoshka and be revived was really just theory. Again, it’s still an asspull. But at least it’s not like any firmly established rules were broken in regards to how this all works.  Arie is up next. Last time we saw her, she was getting increasingly lusty. ~Church Spirit Chamber~ … … …Phew. Oh, Itsuki. I didn’t want to interrupt you. Were you waiting for me to finish praying? Yeah. Were you trying to prepare yourself for the ritual again? I was expressing my gratitude and joy to be able to Classmate with you today. I prayed for today’s ritual to be yet another wonderful experience. You don’t have to pull, Arie. Come…*Classmating happens* *sigh*… My heart’s being enveloped by all these warm emotions. Classmating with you always feels so good… But… I still haven’t had enough.Calm down, Arie. You know the rule. Wait, what? Everybody gets one! Uh… Arie, I think that’s… I mean, I could go again if you wanted. How wonderful. You and I feel the same way. Let’s Classmate right now… I think we should leave it at that, though. But…Everybody. Gets. One. We have stuff to do. We can’t sit here all day and watch you two dry hump each other. Don’t look like that. It’s not like this is the last time we’ll Classmate. We can do more later. It’s just not enough for me… But, if you insist… …Then all right. But, I do want to do it more often.You’ve got maybe 2 or 3 more Classmating chances at this point. I need to make another batch of 12 Star Children at some point (whenever you people get to voting/suggesting ) and that will probably be it for Classmating entirely. Won’t really need any more Star Children after the final team is in place. Better savour those moments, Arie. I want to hold you even more. If that’s what you want, then why don’t we just hold each other outside of the ritual? I think holding hands and hugging can feel just as good. Why don’t we try? Huh…? What? Is that not good? H-Hugging… You mean me, Itsuki?Well he ain’t talking about the columns, Arie. Of course. So? Do you want to try and see how it feels?*Hugging happens* Ah… Well? Itsuki, this feels very good… I didn’t think I could feel this way outside of the ritual…Another sign that Classmating in the game is more of a spiritual/emotional thing rather than the physical thing the Anime depicts it as. Arie is getting worked up over a hug. Do you prefer one over the other? I… can’t compare them. They both fill my heart so… I… I’m going limp… Itsuki, please hold me tighter… Of course…[/i] Okay, you’re getting carried away now. Let’s move on to your actual event. ~Star God Academy Church~ … Hey, Arie. S-Sorry, I haven’t really been able to concentrate on cleaning… Your face looks really red. Are you coming down with something? No, it’s not that… I just… When I think of you, I can’t think of anything else. Um, Itsuki. Can we do it again? Jesus, Arie. Take it easy. You’ve got a bad case of Itsuki Fever. You mean you want another hug? Um… Yes. Itsuki, I want to be held by your strong arms. I couldn’t forget about when you held me in the last Classmating ritual. Well, I don’t mind. Do you want me to do it here? The place doesn’t matter. So long as you’re here, I don’t mind… Please, Itsuki…*Hugging happens… again* Is this okay? Yes… I feel so much at ease… You’re wonderful, Itsuki. My heart is so fulfilled, even without the Classmating ritual.  Yeah, our world doesn’t really need God to send in tiny spirit warrior children in order to beat back the sex monsters, regardless of what the Catholic Church might tell you. So is this how the people of your world touch each other’s hearts? Well, it’s one way of doing it. If I ever go to your world, I’d like to do this every day…There’s something oddly charming about how innocent this is. Itsuki is giving her a hug and she’s absolutely melting as though it is the greatest intimate action you can engage in. Then… why don’t you visit my world some day? Huh? But I have my duty to serve the church here… Oh… right… But thank you for the gesture. My heart races when you say things like that while hugging me… I feel at ease when you hold me like this. I’m fine now. Thank you. Are you sure? Yes. Though, my heart was racing the whole time.  Is there anything that would make my heart beat even faster?Oh, you pure innocent child. You don’t even know. I’m not sure…Also, apparently Itsuki doesn’t either. Or he’s playing dumb out of shyness. One or the other. I thought Classmating made my heart pound the fastest… But you’ve taught me of many more things that do the same. I want to do more of these and make my heart feel hotter…And that’s it for Arie. As you can see, some of these events will push right up against the line of “official couple” and then back away ever so slightly. I think it’s usually the final event where the game goes “Okay, you’re going all in on this relationship now.” Of course, this isn’t a full-on dating sim, so you’re never actually locked in to a particular route.  ~Church Spirit Chamber~ Itsuki, do you want to Classmate with me? Of course. Let’s get started. *Immediate Classmating happens* Hmph… I think I’ve gotten used to the assertiveness thing with you, but are you really sure that you want me to act like that? I-It is not about what I want. Just do as you wish. I cannot refuse when you plead so strongly.  I-I would want you to always speak to me in such a manner. It’s going to be tough to keep that up all the time. Would you be okay with me just doing it occasionally? I-I do not mind that. But… you should only speak that way to me. You better not talk to the other Star Maidens in this fashion during the ritual. Only for you, Femiruna. You would never lie to me, would you? I’ve definitely never talked like this to them on purpose, that’s for sure. (I think some of them would probably kill me if I did…) I-I see… I understand. Then it appears that I am the only one… who can properly deal with your improper manners due to my kind heart. Sure, that’s what it is. …What… am I to you? Hm? What do you mean?That’s a loaded question. There is no deep meaning behind it… but… …What… what does that mean? I apologize… That was a strange question.Please don’t tell me that you’ve got some kind of shortened lifespan as well. Don’t start pulling this at the eleventh hour, Conception. I am acting quite strange today. Something has been on my mind lately… Please forget I asked that. I must go now.*And Femiruna leaves* …Did something happen? I wonder what’s wrong with her…Well, let’s find out, shall we? At least, I guess we’ll find out. The game could always be a jerk and hold off on it until the final event. ~Granvania Shopping Center~  Femiruna? What’s the matter? *sigh*… Uh… Femiruna? Hello? *sigh*… Femiruna! Well I tried to get your attention a few times and you just stood there. Oh, really? I did not hear you at all. Do you want something from me? I was curious about how dinner with your parents went. You haven’t talked about it. I thought you were excited about it. I-It… It was quite fun.  *sigh*… Something happened during the talk, didn’t it? It is nothing… Telling you will not help solve it. You don’t know that for sure unless you tell me.Stop being so nosy, Itsuki. Although, I kind of want to know as well. I suppose so… What about your future?Arranged marriage? It’s probably an arranged marriage. Seems like a popular thing for wealthy types to do. This had already been decided prior to my entering of the academy… Once I graduate, I will debut in the association alongside Mother and Father. I will formally be acknowledged as an adult then. Never heard of that “Association”. It sounds important, though. Yes. It is a world common folk would never be able to experience. I will be unable to act so thoughtlessly any longer.That’s it? Some stuffy rich people club is why you’re so depressed?  Of course I would be happy about it… Originally, I was supposed to have fully assimilated, considering my age. But as I was selected as a Star Maiden, the timing was skewed. So that’s what this is about… I feel lucky to have been able to attend the academy… I was able to experience a life I never would have otherwise.  …That is the path Father has prepared for me.I’m not sure if something is off with this line or not. I get what it was going for. But the way it’s phrased doesn’t really sound like it could flow into whatever the reason was. The only thing I can think of is “of my family and promised to [enter the name of her arranged husband here].” And who knows, maybe that’s what it is. Seems like a weird way to phrase it though. …But is that what you want? That does not matter. It is the future Father has chosen for me. Defying Father is futile. Besides… Um… Why are you staring at me like that? Nothing at all! You are so dense!She’s right. Itsuki is kind of an idiot. Even more so than Official Wake was. When one’s future is already decided, it is not all that exciting.Speak for yourself. I wish I had a future planned out for me, because my attempt at making my own is going like dogshit so far. But that was my everything before I came to this academy. That is why the time I have spent here will be a nice memory for me. I only knew a secluded world, so every day feels like a grand adventure. I cherish each class and every break period. I want to build upon these memories. I am sure they will be a treasure for me. I see… If you did not come to this world, mine would still be restricted to that manor. I know it is only a coincidence, but I… I’m thankful for you as well, Femiruna. I-I will give you the honor of cherishing this time we spend together! That is why you should feel indebted to our interactions. Femiruna… Apologies… I suppose there is no point in talking to you about this. It is not something I should be worrying about in the first place. I am only returning to the path I was originally on. Nothing more, nothing less.  Good day to you. I believe I will sleep well tonight.*Femiruna leaves* Once again, I feel like this is a very weird situation for a family like Femiruna’s. Itsuki is a saviour of the world. He had a shaky start because of the Star Chaos, but it seems like his notoriety is getting more positive (those thugs in Reone’s route were scared shitless of him from his newspaper appearances and the rumors of his power). I know Femiruna’s family is one of those rich business minded types that’s all about agreements and handshakes and that poo poo, but don’t you think they’d be ecstatic at the prospect that their only daughter was getting along with God’s Gift so well? She became a Star Maiden and is working directly with Star God’s chosen warrior in order to save the entire world. I can’t believe there has been no attempt by her parents to try and get her married to Itsuki. Although I guess that would mean everyone ends up happy (in a Femiruna Ending anyway), which doesn’t really generate the same drama as her family trying to separate her from the one she truly loves.  Oh well, that’s Femiruna stuff. It’s Ruka time now. ~Church Spirit Chamber~ Have you finally gotten used to the Classmating ritual? It is weird that he keeps doing stuff like that. You always talk about such meaningless things despite how aloof you are. All you ever do is breathe heavily during the ritual. Why don’t you try saying more considerate things when we Classmate? I’m doing my best, you know. This ritual stuff isn’t easy on me, either. I honestly don’t expect much out of you. But if you don’t do that, our bond will never deepen all that much.How about pulling your own weight before you start lecturing others on pulling theirs? Well… If that’s what you think. I guess I could try whispering some sweet nothings into your ear this time. It’s a Mana thing. Try and ignore it. Oh, you mean like cake or dessert names… right?…Sure. I was talking more along the lines of compliments and stuff. There’s a lot I can give you. Wh-Wh-Wh-Wha…?! What are you saying? Are you stupid or something?  Just act like you normally do. Geez… Why do I always get like this in front of you…It’s a tsundere thing. Try and ignore it… or don’t ignore it, so that you can be more conscious of it… Just, stop being a tsundere, okay? That’s what I’m driving at here. I think it’s cute, personally. Ugh…Hey! That was my reaction too! I only act this way because you say embarrassing things like that! I’m done here! Just stop talking! *sigh*… Shall we start? I’m ready anytime. Same for me. It’s sort of a routine. Nothing to worry about.Which is not surprising. I think I’ve cranked out like 70 Star Children at this point. This place is basically Itsuki’s second home. I-I know that. I-It’s just humiliating seeing you so calm… It makes me look dumb when my heart’s the only one that’s racing… I mean… I still get nervous. It just doesn’t show as much. I think that would make you more restless if you saw me like that. J-Jerk… I may be nervous, but I’m not restless. Classmate! Hurry up! We’ve still got an event to do for god’s sake. N-Now… let’s start.*Classmating finally happens* Huff… Huff… I-I really did try my best today… I think we’ll make a powerful Star Child with that. Thanks for everything, Ruka. D-Don’t look at my face! It’s probably bright red right now! I’m going home now! Goodbye!Thank god that’s done with. In truth it was only about 100 words longer than Femiruna’s, but it felt a lot longer than that. Now, what were we doing with Ruka before the break? …Right, we won a hot springs trip or some crap. Tickets to a hot spring that is never occupied and is sitting out in the middle of a forest with no structures or amenities built around it. ~Front of Orphanage~ Looks like we’ve got a good day for this. The weather is great. I dunno. I feel like the rain would definitely ruin the experience. Like getting into a hot bath while a cold shower runs over your shoulders. A-Anyway, let’s go.*Ruka leaves the screen to the left* Hey, Ruka? You’re going the wrong way.*Ruka then runs back on screen, looking embarrassed* I-I know that. That… doesn’t make sense. Ruka, are you nervous about this being our first date? Huh? First date…? H-How do you know I’ve never gone on a date? I don’t remember saying that to you.Call it a hunch. Actually, I meant that it was the first date for us. Oh… R-Right… I guess this is the first date we’ve had.  *sigh*… To tell you the truth, I’m so nervous my hand is shaking. I’m not used to it, and it’s not really like me to do these sorts of things… Oh, then here, give me your hand. Wh-What?! Why? I’ll hold your hand. That’ll help stop the shaking. To stop the sh-shaking… F-Fine. I’ll hold your hand… Here goes… Death grip. Got it. Time to flex those monster clubbing arms, Itsuki. ~Forest Hot Springs~ Wh-What is this… There’s only one bath here. Yeah. What’s the big deal? We’ll be wearing bathing suits, remember?Well, Ruka will. Itsuki is going to presumably rock his man-banana pouch again. Not sure that qualifies as a “suit”. R-Right… I didn’t think we had to go in naked or anything like that. Hmph… That’s a relief. I’ll go change first. But, um… where do I get changed? I don’t see a changing room… I’m pretty sure we just change right here. Hey, it’s not his fault that the prize was stupid. And we’re outdoors… What if someone sees us? Then why not change over behind the bushes? That’s what I was going to do. O-Oh, fine… I guess there’s no other option. When you get changed, you can go in first. I’ll change over there. Sure thing.*After a quick wardrobe change* Ahh… that feels nice… I wonder what’s taking Ruka so long? Th-Th-Thank you for waiting… Is this a new background CG? I feel like we haven’t seen this one before. Then again, all of these hot springs things are kind of blending together and not especially memorable. Maybe I just forgot about it. All the way over there? Are you sure? …Well, I guess I’ll just stay over here. Y-You do that. That’s for the best… Yeah.Now that I think about it… I wonder if there are any Maidens that don’t get a hot springs event? Ruka, Mirei, Mahiru, Mahiru again, and Farun have all had one so far. I guess there’s only one event left for Arie and Femiruna, and it doesn’t seem like either of them will be randomly hiking out here. Alfie looks like she’ll be getting a beach event, which I guess kind of counts (although everyone gets a beach event in the Summer). … U-Um… Thank you for being considerate… No problem. Yeah, same here… …  I think this distance is good enough… Don’t worry about that. Let’s just relax.Stop ruining the tranquility, Ruka. You’re so calm about this it’s irritating…  Again, this implies that the ritual is like what the anime depicts, except that the Maidens’ reactions to things like this all contradict that idea. So it’s probably a little too late to be embarrassed… Listen, Ruka… I know you don’t like to be touched by people. So, thanks for going along with the ritual in spite of that. Wh-What’s with you all of a sudden? I don’t do it because I want to get thanked by you. But… I welcome your appreciation. Thanks to you, I’m able to talk to people now…  And I don’t feel as distant with the kids anymore. I-I’m thankful to you for all that. I’m glad to hear that things are going well with the kids. Although, it kind of feels like there’s still some distance between us… Th-That’s not true! We’re in a hot spring together… A-And we’re practically naked right now…Ehhh, not really. Itsuki, yes. Assuming he’s wearing his speedo thing anyway. You? Nah. Farun and Mahiru during these events? They were practically naked. We’re even outdoors… How much courage do you think I had to gather to do this? Well, there’s still the distance of the hot spring from edge to edge. Ugh… Fine… I’ll go over there, so just wait.*Ruka wanders closer*  I’d like to see that, actually. Do it! Do you want to hold hands again? You’re shaking. Ugh… H-Hmph. Go ahead if you want. Here. If you’re going to do it, hurry up…*And then the hot springs portion of the event just kind of ends* ~Front of Orphanage~ *sigh*… I’m tired. Thanks for walking me back. But I think I’m done with hot springs…  We shouldn’t have held hands… Hm? What was that? N-Nothing! Geez… This guy…It really does feel like he stops listening completely at random times. I always imagine that he gets distracted by a passing bird or something. I’ll drop by again later for the club meeting. Oh, about that… Nnnnoo—well, it was kind of a gigantic waste of time. We found out that the little barefoot girl wasn’t being bullied like 2 bonding levels ago. Really? Why? Well, the girl you carried back was adopted yesterday. She was the only one commuting to the academy from the orphanage…She only made a single loving appearance in this entire game… and I had to make a character pic for her. Yet we didn’t get any generic NPC sprites for the ton of Students that popped up. So… that’s why we’re disbanding. Oh… that’s too bad… There won’t be anymore meetings after hours, but we can still meet up. You can come chat when you feel like it. O-Oh, and forget about what you saw at the hot springs after we held hands… Wait… did we miss a wardrobe malfunction? Was that cut as part of the translation/remake, or was that left out on purpose? I-It wasn’t to give you a show or anything! You better not misunderstand! G-Goodbye!Weird. It’s not like this game to leave out pervy dating sim stuff like that. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. That sounds like it would have ruined an otherwise fairly sweet scene between these two. Oh well. This whole game has been one weird decision after another. ~Bottom 7 Summaries: Virgo~ #7.  Mahiru’s Classmating event has her continuing with the book or cosmo magazine or whatever the hell she’s reading that tells her of ways to improve the ritual.  Apparently a previous God’s Gift left behind a little nugget of wisdom saying that being in a relationship with a Star Maiden where they are both hot for each other was the most effective way of improving the results of the ritual. Mahiru also mentions that they learned in their Maiden History class thing that a lot of the God’s Gifts and Star Maidens in the past wound up getting married afterward (which is pretty understandable given the nature of how this all works). Itsuki thinks that means that he’s got a shot and hooking up with a Star Maiden himself, although Mahiru tries to brush it off as just being ancient history or something (despite the fact that this God’s Gift thing happens every 10 years). She also points out that Itsuki has 12 Star Maidens, not just 1. Anyway, Itsuki mentions that they are going back home after the world is saved anyway, so it’s not like shacking up with a Star Maiden seems probable in his case. Mahiru obviously gets bummed about hearing him say that, since she desperately wants him and all that. Mahiru then mentions that the books don’t really have much useful information for improving the rituals so she’s just going to let Itsuki take the lead and she’ll follow at whatever pace he moves at. She uses a Captain and Passenger analogy or something. I just want to mention that because I think this comes up in her event later and it’ll confuse you if I don’t bring it up here. After Classmating, Mahiru talks about Itsuki’s scent and the event ends.  In Mahiru’s event, Itsuki finds the cafeteria to be busier than usual and that everyone is eating some kind of cake. Mahiru mentions that hers finally got onto the menu. Itsuki orders one for himself and eats while Mahiru wraps up her shift. He tells her that it was good when she asks about it afterward. Some awkward silence happens where Mahiru is expecting more to Itsuki’s opinions, but he just tells her that he’s terrible at giving compliments.  Female Student C then rolls up and recognizes Itsuki. She manages to work up the courage to ask him on a date (the NPC students in this game are way more ballsy than in CII. I think Wake only gets kind of asked out at one point in the game where he’s also with Alec). Itsuki looks to Mahiru when the student asks if he’s dating someone else, which causes Mahiru to ask him what he’s staring at her for. Then Itsuki pulls the same “We’re on a mission” thing that Mahiru used to ditch that Male Student a while back. Itsuki and Mahiru then bolt and Female Student C calls out after him.  Mahiru and Itsuki manage to lose the love-stricken student (who apparently chased them). They do the Captain thing again. They take a seat on the bench and start getting nervous because they’re alone together in a park where a bunch of couples are apparently hanging around. Mahiru gets embarrassed because apparently one of the couples starts making out or something. She then says another couple over there are going at it even harder. Mahiru and Itsuki then decide to leave and go somewhere else, because I guess the sight of public displays of affection is too much for their innocent Japanese sensibilities or something. Out in the forest, the two start reminiscing about that rabbit chase from 10 years ago. Mahiru then asks if Itsuki will stay with her from now on and she looks shy while saying it. So what she’s really asking is if he’s going to fulfill that old childhood marriage promise. For a Mahiru route, Itsuki obviously says that he promises to do just that. There’s a suspiciously long fade to black, but it may just be a time skip because when it comes back it is now evening. Mahiru says that it’s getting dark and Itsuki says they should really head back, but Mahiru stops him. She says that she wants to knit him a hat as a gift for next time, so she needs to measure the size of his head.  They’re cousins, by the way. Have I mentioned that? I feel like I have, but I want to make sure everyone is clear on it. Of course Mahiru is just using that as an excuse to go for a kiss. The event wraps up shortly afterward, with Itsuki mentioning how soft Mahiru’s lips were and Mahiru talking about how bad Itsuki is at compliments. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Feb 26, 2020 |
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Bonding Update XIX: Final Bonding Events – Capricorn and Libra + Summaries of #8-13 (Part 1)  Two more to go. I wonder how much more freaking out Farun is going to do in her final few events. ~Church Spirit Chamber~ … .jpg) Just wondering what you were so deep in thought about. Hehe. Take a guess. Would it be me by any chance? …Hehe. It’s like ya know how to read minds. Or were my thoughts leakin’ out? You’re correct. I was thinkin’ ‘bout ya..jpg) I’ve been thinking about how weird a direction Farun’s route took. I never thought she’d end up being the “giddy schoolgirl in love” character. Was sort of expecting a more emotional route revolving around her leaving her hometown to spend life as a wanderer and that thing about her keeping radio silence with her parents for some reason. …Do ya remember when we first came here? I was really nervous back then. I was so scared. I didn’t really know how to deal with men… An’ I didn’t know ya all that well either… That’s why… Yeah, it was pretty easy to tell that you were nervous about this whole thing. What? It was? I guess so, huh. Ahaha..jpg) Yeah. Hard to believe it’s been slightly over 2 months. …I’m bad at keeping deadlines. In the opposite way than people normally expect. Remember me saying that I’d stick to 1 update a week? HA! Ahh… memories. …How about we get started with the ritual? Oh, right. But… can ya wait just a little more? *inhale*… Whew… *inhale*… Whew… You still need time to prepare? After all we’ve been through? I kind of thought there wouldn’t be anything else for you to be nervous about at this point. That’s not true… I’m still nervous… My heart’s racin’ right now… Itsuki… .jpg) But… I’d appreciate it if ya were gentle.You know, you all say poo poo like that, but I don’t think there’s been any indication that Itsuki is even capable of being “rough”. Femiruna basically had to force him into it. I promise… …Let’s go.*Classmating!* Huff… Huff… Huff… Farun? You okay? …Hm? I asked if you were all right..jpg) Big Sis Farun is now in pieces cuz of ya. You’re not really acting like your usual self.I don’t know. I think this is pretty typical of Farun. At least, her recent self. Hehe. You’re so calm ‘bout it. But who cares? There are always times when I’m not feelin’ like myself. I see… Oh! That’s right. Farun, I need to head out soon. Oh… You’re goin’ already… Please don’t make that face. It’s not like I don’t want to be with you. …Then be with me. Well, the Ophiuchus Labyrinth has been jutting out of the countryside for the past couple of months. That’s probably an issue that needs immediate attention. Also Itsuki needs to start planning his final Star Child teams since the thread doesn’t seem to be interested in coming up with anything themselves. I wanna spend more time with ya. Ahaha! Just kiddin’! I know you’re a busy man. You’re working hard for the sake of our world, right? Ya have my support, Itsuki!*Farun then leans in for a kiss* Here’s a good luck charm! I wanna do more, but I’ll stop right there! Th-Thanks, Farun. I appreciate how you feel about me. Hehe… But there are some good things about that. Things you’d like.…What? Huh? What could it be? I can’t wait to find out. Thanks to you, I’ve managed to make more progress in the labyrinths. It’ll all end soon.I’m letting official dialogue happen right now because I’m a little unclear how this conversation is transitioning. O-Oh… Are you not happy about that? You’ll be able to go on your travels again. I thought you’d like that. You’ll still be a Star Maiden, but you’ll probably have more freedom than you do right now. Wait, what? But it’s all you talk about. Why? C-Cuz… Who cares about that?! …I thought ya were leavin’. Ain’t ya in a hurry? Are you sure about this? Ya gonna change your mind if I said no? Ahaha! Sorry! I’ll be fine! Good luck out there! Ya can do it, Itsuki! See ya later! Oh, sure thing.*Itsuki then leaves, I think. I’m assuming based on this next line* … ~Tavern~ … Hey, Farun. All right… Is that another letter from your family? Yeah. I wrote ‘em a letter the other day, an’ this is their response. Mind telling me what it says? I’m happy to hear that. I’m glad you finally got in touch with them. …Yeah. I tried writin’ it in the way ya suggested. I was so scared to write it, but I finally put myself to it. I’m so glad… Afraid? What were you afraid of? Hmm… Well, when all’s said an’ done, I’m a pretty bad daughter. I felt guilty. I love my parents, the village I was born in, an’ my home. But I left ‘em behind. I really do feel sorry ‘bout that. Jesus. What the hell prompted that outburst? But they still wrote back sayin’ they’re happy hearin’ from me. Aha, how sweet.…You’re not going to tell us… are you? Sorry… I think I’m gonna cry. Haha… Yeah… What a relief… Seriously… I’m happy for you. …Yeah, thanks. So what did you write back to them? Huh?! I-I don’t really wanna say… Wait, me? Wait! No! Stop! I’m kiddin’! Oh, no…Moments like these are always weird when you’re in a route where the two characters are kissing openly and easily. Maybe I just don’t get it because I’ve never been in a relationship.  Man, Itsuki just cannot restrain his rabid need to pry. Ugh… Well, I did actually… Wh-What should I do… I can show it, but… D-Do ya wanna see it? Do ya really? Of course. I want to know more about you. Like what you think of me. … Y-Ya know! Ya always say those things while lookin’ at me right in my eyes! That’s not fair! I can’t say no to ya now… Well, that’s sort of a me thing to do. You like that, don’t you? G-Gah… The clincher… Wh-What should I do now… Okay… then… can I? Wait! I changed my mind! No no no! Ya can’t see it! It’s too embarrassin’! I can’t let ya see it! Why not? There’s no-one else here. It’s just the two of us. … R-Right… It’s just the two of us… What’s the matter with that? We’re alone like this pretty regularly. Yeah, I know… We’ve always been alone together… Look… I’ve been thinkin’ this for a while, but… *Farun then leans in and just stares* … …What? What’s wrong? I wanted to get closer. …All right, caught ya. H-Hey! What are you doing? Y-You’re always so level-headed an’ passive ‘bout stuff… An’ I’m supposed to be the beautiful Big Sis Farun, ya know? I’ve always been a li’l… dissatisfied…  It just makes me worried that I’m not attractive…For god’s sake Farun, what do you want from him? To start nailing you on the counter of a public bar? People get drunk here! Show some respect and cool those booty shorts. Farun… Barf. I can’t put your beauty into words. …N-No way. You’re teasin’ me! Ya always tease everyone like that. I’m not teasing you. I know you’re lyin’… You’re teasin’ me like ya always do. But… maybe I’m okay with ya teasin’ me some more right now… I want ya to say that to me more… Farun, you’re gorgeous. I mean that. Hehe… Hahahaha… Now this was worth all the embarrassment… Wait a second, Farun. Someone could walk in. Oh… right. Say… How ‘bout ya come over after the tavern closes? Then we’ll have all the time in the world to talk an’ stuff. I’ll… I’ll even tell ya what’s in the letter. I want ya to know everythin’. Sounds like a plan. M’kay, see ya later. Come by after the tavern closes. Sure thing. Oh well, at least we get to find out what kind of juicy Itsuki details Farun was giving to her parents.  One more to go. ~Church Spirit Chamber~ Mirei, we should start the ritual soon. Are you ready? Of course. Are you going to record data about me again? Heheh…  I get the feeling that that is the shortest route in getting to know you.There are some things science just can’t explain… like love… or how Itsuki thinks. Let’s go, Itsuki. Help me enjoy this…* Huff… Huff… Huff… Are you feeling okay? You’re usually not this out of breath. Yes… … It happens during games like these. You get used to it. What is this emotion…? I still cannot gather my thoughts… I don’t understand it in the slightest… But I have this desire to give my entire being in to this emotion. My sense of logic is falling apart. Itsuki, what do people who fall in love do? What do they do…? Uh… Well, there’s not really any rules or anything. What do you mean? Are you saying there’s no definitive answer? Depends on the person, I think. I have no theory or knowledge when it comes to love. I don’t think I’ll be able to find my way to the correct outcome. That doesn’t sound much like the Mirei that I know. This is completely different from my research. I wouldn’t hate you for trying your best. Heheh, you’re too kind. I don’t really know what the right answer is… but I think you should just do what you feel is right. What I feel is right…? All I want is to be with you… Then why don’t we try going somewhere together? Like a date. A date… I see… We have with everyone else. Might as well complete the set. All my life I’ve done nothing but research. I don’t know anything else. I don’t know of any fun places to go, and I can’t talk about anything other than my research. Even if we go somewhere together, you would just end up bored beyond belief. I don’t think you’re boring. Really now? That worries me… I want to be with you too, you know. I wouldn’t get bored of being with you. Heheh… That tickles me, Itsuki. It gives me pleasure. It makes me want to feel it more and more… Let’s go on a date, Itsuki. Right. It’s decided, then. Yes. But first, I want to ask you something?Not sure why you phrased that as a question. That was a statement. Oh well, proceed. Is it true that we must hold hands during dates? It’s not a rule or anything, but it is a pretty standard date thing to do. What is it? Something wrong? I-It’s nothing. Well, I will be looking forward to it.All right. Date time with Mirei, here we go. What are we doing? Hot springs again? Science exhibit? ~Star God Academy St.~ Hmm… Mirei is late. What happened to her?*The screen shakes a little* What was that? Oh, Itsuki. Sorry I’m late. Mirei? Why don’t you have your glasses on? Oh, um… I lost them in the middle of yesterday’s research. Should you really be walking around without them? There’s nothing to worry about. Let’s go on this date. Ah, the whole “heightened senses” thing again. You know, you could have just tucked your glasses into your pocket when you were approaching Itsuki. You didn’t have to come the whole way here without them. Right. Here. Hm… Something funny? It’s nothing. Now let’s go.~Outskirts Lake~  Yay! The Bob Ross lake again! I like this place. Oh, apologies… It seems I’ve been talking nonstop. I usually don’t talk this much, but a date brings out a different side of me…Honestly, I wish we could have heard part of that. I’d be interested to know how the hell star energy actually works. Apologies for talking only about my research. Are you enjoying this date? Yeah, I’m having a good time. I’m relieved to hear you say you’re enjoying it. You don’t have to worry so much, Mirei. Just relax. I wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t enjoy it. Thank you… Heheh… You’re like an educator. You teach me everything I don’t know. Now teach me how to have a proper date. Let’s go.*Mirei then leans in… or falls forward, it’s hard to tell* Uh-oh. You okay? Y-Yes… You really should have your glasses on. What if you fall? Hm? What’s wrong? This is the first time anyone has embraced me like this… Oh! Sorry! I— Wait, don’t. Don’t let me go. … I can’t believe I’ve made a terrible mistake… What? I’ll be honest… That was obvious. To everyone but Itsuki, I mean. I remember the time I removed my glasses and touched your hand… That sensation left a strong impression with me…  I wondered how I’d feel if I touched your hand in a situation such as this… So… I wanted to test it out… I felt the warmth of your hand… but another problem has come about… This is my blunder… Eh, I still think glasses Mirei is better. Mirei… you’re really close now… Yes, I know. I’m doing it on purpose. It’s my mistake that I cannot see your face well… I have to get closer or else I can’t see you. You’re acting really strange today… When you’re close to me, even I become strange… Mirei… Oh…  I, too…[Old Man]: Oh, is that you, Mirei? Oooh! Cockblocked by the Old Man! …Wait a second… what the gently caress is he doing out here? Huh?[Old Man]: You are Mirei, aren’t you? The palace mage…  Who might you be?[Old Man]: I was the one who thanked you for fixing the magic transmission device… …Was I interrupting something? Yes, you old fart! You were young once, don’t you know how to read the room? Y-You weren’t. Pay it no mind. This man is, you know… How do you expect me to answer that? J-Just make something up… Please… I can’t think straight right now. Uhh…We could complete destroy the mood here by saying “I’m no one special” or “I’m her research specimen”, but let’s choose the best answer since these are the final bonding events. Never know who is going to end up being the canon choice after all. I’m her lover. …[Old Man]: Oh, is that so? What a joyous thing. Wh-What are you saying all of a sudden? Dammit, old man! Take the hint and go away! Itsuki’s trying to get some scientist action here! Why are you even out here in the countryside? Weren’t you the one bitching about not being able to travel to talk to your grandchild or something? Yeah, I think so too. D-Don’t speak such nonsense! Stop it! Mirei, just play along with it. You told me to come up with something. Sh-Shut up. Stop this. When you call me beautiful in public… [Old Man]: Anyway, Mirei… I hope you’ll continue developing new magical tools. You’re getting on my last nerve, Old Man. You got what you wanted from her, so leave her the gently caress alone. Did you follow her out here just to nag for more inventions? [Old Man]: Everyone in town is supporting you. Farewell for now. Everyone in town can go choke on the corpses of their deceased loved ones. They’re assholes and I hate them. Y-Yes. Goodbye… Whew… What am I doing outside…?  Ahh… Heheh… Heheheheh… Why are you suddenly laughing? No, I merely found myself to be funny just then… about how much I’ve changed. Talking about loving and hating… and even showing emotion. Plucky young JRPG protagonists will corrupt you eventually. It’s sort of impossible to avoid. It’s all your fault, Itsuki. Sorry about that… I didn’t ask for an apology. I don’t feel bad. I didn’t realize showing my emotions could be such a refreshing experience… Itsuki, you’ve taught me so many things. You’re kind of embarrassing me now… But that is what I truly feel. I’m happy to have gone on a date with you today. Me too, Mirei.Well, that was sweet. Too bad that doddering old idiot had to show up out of nowhere and ruin the mood. ~Bottom 7 Summaries: Pisces, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Aquarius, Gemini, and Taurus~ #8.  Yuzuha’s Classmating event has her talking about how she “belongs” to Itsuki now and that she hopes he’ll take care of her. Yuzuha still gets embarrassed by the ritual. It should be noted that despite her last event where she talks about no longer being the “little sister” and instead being Itsuki’s Star Maiden, she still refers to Itsuki as “Big Brother”.  Anyway, Classmating happens and the event ends shortly after. Most of Yuzuha’s Classmating event is just her talking about being embarrassed or nervous. Actually, now that I think back on it, most of her Classmating events are basically just that. Yuzuha’s main event is something a little different. It’s not going to be a fun time, I’ll tell you that right now. Itsuki visits her at her house and finds that Yuzuha is looking really dizzy and out of it. She says that she figures she hasn’t been sleeping well, then collapses on the floor. Some time passes and when the screen fades back in we find Reone standing in the room. She says that Yuzuha is fine for the time being and that she’s currently sleeping. Reone then comes clean about something that both her and Yuzuha have been hiding from Itsuki:  Reone says that Yuzuha spends most of the day trying to fight off a strong drowsiness. It’s not quite as simple as narcolepsy though. Reone says that the Sleeping Spell illness is dangerous in a different way. Specifically, Yuzuha’s life is shortened by the amount of time she sleeps. People afflicted with this illness apparently never live past the age of 20. Itsuki asks if there’s any way to cure it, but Reone says that there is currently no way to do so. She says that there’s nothing even close to being able to treat it yet. The only positive thing about the illness is that Reone says it isn’t painful. People afflicted with it simply die in their sleep when their time comes. Although, Reone does admit that she wonders what it feels like to go to sleep not knowing if you’ll ever wake up again. She also asks Itsuki why he thinks Yuzuha sleeps in a coffin. She immediately answers that question by saying that Yuzuha does it so that she won’t cause trouble for anyone when she does finally die. It’s also why she avoids interacting with others.  Itsuki is understandably upset by this. Reone gives him the medicine that Yuzuha wanted (it’s a stimulant to keep her awake longer). She says that Yuzuha hasn’t given up on life just yet and that Itsuki should support her. What’s more, the medicine that Yuzuha wanted Reone to make will keep her awake, but it does that by continually dealing out pain in order to fight off the drowsiness. Reone has reservations about prescribing something like that, but she also points out to Itsuki just how far Yuzuha is willing to go in order to keep living. Reone then takes her leave. Itsuki goes to check on Yuzuha and she wakes up and apologizes for losing consciousness. She also figures that Itsuki heard everything from Reone. Yuzuha then makes Itsuki promise her to treat her the same as always and not as though she was sick. He makes that promise. Itsuki gets ready to head out and Yuzuha tells him not to worry about her. She also says that she doesn’t use the medicine that Reone gives her all the time, since she doesn’t like pain very much. The event then wraps up there.  #9.  After that uplifting moment, we follow up with Reone herself. Reone is down for the Classmating ritual right off the bat, telling Itsuki that they can get started the moment their eyes meet. Itsuki says that he kind of needs to prepare himself and Reone mentions that talking to him like this before the ritual makes her heart beat faster. Itsuki is a bit surprised that Reone would get nervous about this, but she says that all Star Maidens feel that way before the ritual (mostly).  Reone reveals that apparently one of the big causes of nervousness for the Star Maidens is that Itsuki might eventually cross the line with them (I assume she’s talking about going full-on sex, which would make more sense in the Anime’s depiction but is kind of confusing if we look at this from an emotional/mental context. Stop waffling on this topic, game. Come right out and tell us what happens during this ritual thing). Anyway, Reone says that just because she would let him doesn’t mean he should go all the way. Itsuki says that he’ll be more considerate of the Star Maidens’ feelings in that regard. Classmating then happens. Afterward, Reone says that apparently Itsuki was hovering on that line (which… what? What does that mean?). Itsuki points out that Reone is the one that took the lead this time and she asks if he is trying to say it was her fault. After that bit of playful back and forth, the event wraps up with a bit of “I’m sure the Star Child will be powerful” and “It’s thanks to our deep bond” and all that typical stuff. In Reone’s first event, Itsuki finds her in a good mood and asks what happened, only for Reone to reveal that apparently Shang found out about her little stunt with the hospital since, you know, there was a big-rear end explosion in the middle of the loving city.  Despite telling her off, Shang agrees that a hospital in the slums is something that the nation should support (it’s almost as if Reone should have just loving asked for the government’s support in the first place). In the end, she was let off with a scolding instead of any kind of punishment. She figures her being a Star Maiden and Itsuki being involved are probably why she got off so lightly. To help thank him for saving her, Reone takes Itsuki along for a walk to the park as part of a date. In the park, the couples from Mahiru’s event are apparently still littering the area. Reone asks if Itsuki has gone on dates like this with the other Star Maidens, but Itsuki sticks to “a gentleman never kisses and tells”, which Reone thinks is admirable. Reone then goes on to mention that the hospital in the slums will be built soon and that her role as palace physician will probably be over at that point. Itsuki asks why she plans on quitting, but Reone says she won’t quit while he’s around. As for what she plans to do once Itsuki’s job is done, she isn’t sure. She thinks that maybe she can open a clinic in the countryside and just take things easy, or possibly research treatments that haven’t been discovered yet. She says that it would be perfect if Itsuki were by her side, which causes him to apologize, but Reone tells him not to since he’s working so hard for his own sake (to get back to his world).  Reone thinks God’s Gift can be so cruel because they go around making strong bonds with Star Maidens only to eventually leave them. She says that he should do his best to make good memories while he can and suggests that he start by stealing a kiss from all of the Maidens, starting with her. Itsuki is a little hesitant, because he feels he can’t do something like that with someone he won’t get to see again (but I guess Farun is totally fine?). Reone goes in for the kiss herself since Itsuki chickened out and then she asks to walk back home holding hands, since she wants to enjoy being lovers until the very end.  #9.  For Sue’s Classmating, Itsuki wonders why Sue still wants to do Classmating since she figured out what the nostalgic feeling was and why it was causing a “prickly” sensation (memories of her parents holding her). Sue asks if Itsuki doesn’t want to do it with her, but he says that he does. Sue says that she wants to as well because she likes him, even if her heart still feels a little prickly during the ritual. Classmating then happens.  Afterward, Sue says that her heart feels warm and also a little prickly, but that that sensation goes away whenever she thinks about Itsuki. She then says that she loves him and wants to be by his side. The event ends there. In Sue’s event, Itsuki finds her doing some spring cleaning of the animal hut. Itsuki offers to help and lifts up some heavy equipment to get it out of the way. Sue is impressed by how light he makes it look and how strong he is.  After Itsuki explains that he’s not quite strong enough to carry a freaking horse, the two of them proceed to cleaning. A short time skip happens. Once it’s done, Itsuki tells her that he can always help her out again, but Sue gets a little sad about that and says that she can’t rely on him like that all the time. If she did, she feels like she wouldn’t be able to live by herself anymore. She also says that she feels weaker now because of all the help she’s been getting and that she feels useless when Itsuki spoils her.  Itsuki asks if that’s really such a bad thing, but Sue says that she’ll only cause trouble during the times when he’s not there. Itsuki convinces her that it’s okay for her to depend on him and Sue asks him to be by her side. Itsuki agrees and Sue then asks him to not go to the labyrinths anymore, but Itsuki tells her that’s not possible.  Sue tells him not to forget that him going to the labyrinths makes her afraid and the event ends there. #11.  Collette’s Classmating event opens with her asking if she can go take a bath first. Itsuki says that if she’s going to do that, then he might as well do it too, which causes Collette to do her “Are you trying to say that you want to bathe with me?” thing that she always does to make Itsuki sound like a perv. Collette says that she’ll just wait and have the bath after the ritual.  She eventually says that because she’s doing this for him without having washed first, she’ll do something special. She makes him kneel down so that they are both at eye-level, then has him close his eyes. Itsuki wonders what the soft sensation against his lips was, but Collette says that it’s a secret (she kissed you, Itsuki. Don’t be that dense). Classmating then eventually happens. A little more back and forth happens with Itsuki denying that he was teasing her and Collette trying to find out what he said and all that stuff. She then says it’s time for a bath and offers to wash Itsuki’s back, which causes him to question if they are going to bathe together. Collette says “Why not?” since they are close enough to do that ritual all the time. Itsuki then quickly makes up an excuse and loving books it.  For Collette’s event, she gets Itsuki to run out and buy her a bag of sugar from the store. During his shopping run, he runs into Mahiru and decides to ask her if she knows where he can get a four-leafed clover. Mahiru says that she carries one in her wallet (she put it in there just before they wound up in this world… for some reason…). Itsuki head back to the bakery and shows Collette the clover, which nearly brings her to tears (I should mention that Itsuki doesn’t say anything about Mahiru giving it to him. Douche). Collette says that she needs to close up shop and get to baking that bread right away, but that she wants him to stay with her the whole time.  Yup, that’s a triple comma in place of a question mark. SC gonna SC. Collette is happy that Itsuki remembered what she hopes her grandfather will say, then asks him to hold her hand during the baking since she wants to build up happiness to put into the bread. After some time has passed, Collette thanks Itsuki for staying with her and says that she’ll take the bread to her grandfather right away. The event wraps up around that time.  #12.  Lillith is on board for Classmating, although she says that Lillie would hate it if Itsuki disliked her (Itsuki assures her that he doesn’t). Lillith then wants to apologize for the Golden Apple incident, even though it’s kind of late for that.  Itsuki says that it’s because of what she did that he was saved, which makes Lillith happy. Classmating then happens. After that, Itsuki mentions that he was noticing how much Lillith has changed and that she’s a lot more assertive now. Lillith talks about how she’s never felt this way and that her heart is so full of worries (okay, that part is a little different compared to how these usually go). Lillith starts talking about how it’s a bad habit of hers to worry like that and that she’s happy when she’s with Itsuki, but is afraid of not being with him. Itsuki says that he understands how she feels and reassures her, which makes Lillith happy, but she admits that the bad thoughts still cross her mind. When Itsuki leaves, Lillith mumbles something about still being worried about what might happen between them in the future.  For the event, Itsuki walks in to find Lillith giving a fortune reading, although it’s quickly revealed that this is actually Lillie impersonating Lillith again. However, Lillie isn’t doing this for the sake of a prank this time. She says that she hasn’t been able to switch with Lillith since yesterday and she’s not sure why. Lillie says that apparently Lillith read a fortune about something (Lillie found Lillith’s fortune telling stuff in front of her when she flipped. She could also feel some residual emotional shock) and ever since Lillie has been stuck in control. Itsuki asks if it’s even possible for that to happen and Lillie says that there’s no other way to explain it. She’s been bashing her head repeatedly to try and change back, but it hasn’t been happening. Itsuki gets her to calm down and Lillie says that she’s just worried about Lillith. She says that maybe something equally shocking as what Lillith saw would be enough to force a personality switch again, then says that there’s only one thing left that she can think of: kissing.  I’ve always liked the term “snogging”. It’s a funny word. After some back and forth where Itsuki tries to go through with the kiss but Lillie is being really shy about it and doing things like turning her face away, they finally manage to kiss.  Lillie says that she’ll bite his tongue off if he sticks it inside. Barf. The kiss does the trick and Lillith is brought back out. Itsuki tries to find out what was so shocking that Lillith wouldn’t come out anymore, but she says that it was so bad that her memory of it is gone. Itsuki is still concerned about it, but lets it go since Lillith says she can’t remember what it was. When Itsuki leaves, Lillith mumbles “Itsuki… I…” and looks kind of upset. The event ends there. #13.  Tarua is embarrassed about doing the ritual but she wants to be useful to Itsuki, then Classmating happens. I’m not really skipping much, it really does happen that quickly. Afterward, Itsuki offers to pat her on the head, but Tarua declines and says that there’s something else she wants instead. She wants him to hold her up instead, because being patted on the head makes her feel weird.  Huh, she does have that snaggle-tooth. I guess the anime didn’t make that up. Tarua is having fun, but then Itsuki pats her on the head as well and Tarua starts melting like butter. Itsuki eventually has to put her down since his knees are going numb (wimp) and then Tarua starts asking about whether or not Itsuki finds her cute. She’s apparently worried that Itsuki doesn’t see her as a girl, since he doesn’t seem to get nervous around her. Itsuki reassures her that she’s cute, but Tarua says that she still wants to be more feminine since she wants to make Itsuki’s heart race like other girls do. Tarua tries to figure out what causes that, whether it’s hugging or kissing or while being on a date, then locks into the date thing and says that she wants to do that with him. Itsuki agrees and Tarua is determined to make his heart race and be more like a girl. In Tarua’s event, the date happens. Tarua is stocked about it, but she isn’t sure what you actually do on a date and never really thought of anything to do. She asks Itsuki what to do and he suggests (in the best choice) that they walk arm in arm.  Tarua says that up until now, she loved running more than anything in the world, but she admits that slowly walking around with Itsuki like this is really fun too. Itsuki also buys her some sweets that she spies and Tarua seems to be loving the date (Itsuki actually says that it feels more like he’s taking care of a cousin than going on a date. Tarua doesn’t catch that comment though). After the date, Tarua says that it was a lot of fun but that it’s different from the ones she knows of. Specifically, she says that the ones she knows of are when a man and a woman make out and are lovey-dovey and stuff. Also that the man carries the woman and they kiss. Tarua starts freaking out a bit about that since the thought makes her really nervous, but Itsuki tells her not to rush things so much.  Itsuki says that she already made his heart race, but Tarua isn’t buying it since her face goes red and her mind goes blank when it happens to her. Itsuki points out that not everyone reacts in the same way. Tarua still wants to make Itsuki more nervous like he does to her, so they promise to go on lots of dates. There, that takes care of that. Now all that’s left is everyone’s final event, where it all comes together and permanent deep relationships are formed and we can all pretend for a few more labyrinths that everything is great until the inevitable time comes for me to pit the 13 Maidens against each other and force the thread to select just 1 of them for the canon ending. Fun stuff. Also I guess we’ll find out if Alfie and Yuzuha are going to die in the next few years or if some magic anime bullshit will save them at the last minute (even though they are Star Maidens and are supposed to be permanently youthful for the next 120 years. Which is honestly something I think the writers may have forgotten about). Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Feb 26, 2020 |
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Feb 25, 2020 18:45
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First thought regarding things Reone says is that they wind up creating a Bond Eater. Second thought comes back to the 'Classmating messes with your mind' theory.
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Feb 25, 2020 19:54
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Alfie and Arie both had great events. I like that Femiruna's profile makes absolutely no attempt to beat around the bush or play coy in any way. Just, bam, there it is. Has that always been there or does it only show up as the route progresses? Ruka's event is actually not totally awful. Kind of surprised, I expected way worse. Go away, Mahiru. "Honestly, I wish we could have heard part of that. I’d be interested to know how the hell star energy actually works." So would the devs. That's why we don't get to hear it. The writers have no loving idea what Star Energy actually is or how it works, and making the second game obviously didn't clear it up for them at all. Also, GO AWAY, OLD MAN. Ugh, that is terrible for Yuzuha. hopefully she can get a similar treatment as Alfie did. Reona and Sue are both unremarkable but less offensive and/or boring than usual. Most of these have been good other than Mahiru. [..... which I regret tempting fate with, two minutes later.] Go away, Colette. Go away, Lillie. That's actually a decent event for Tarua. Why wasn't that, like, event 2 or 3? She's had a fat load of absolutely nothing up until now.
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Feb 25, 2020 22:49
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Nice, can't even tell that's not the original. Psycho Knight posted:
That feels like what it's meant to be but the grammar is all over the place. Alas the closer we are to the end the harder it is to find Japanese Let's Plays covering these, either because they favoured other maiden(s) or they didn't actually finish the game at all. Psycho Knight posted:
Yeah, the first is curious. The Japanese text doesn't explicitly include the 'of me' but it couldn't really mean anything else. Maybe a misstep by the writers given everything else we've seen. The second was left out on purpose. They would have had to fade to black anyway and the scene was pretty much over so they maybe they figured the post-event reaction was better. Psycho Knight posted:Mahiru’s Classmating event has her continuing with the book or cosmo magazine or whatever the hell she’s reading that tells her of ways to improve the ritual. Mahiru rewriting in full effect here, though the Conception version is pretty generic 'I bet you say that to all the girls' 'No, just you' stuff. It does include her sniffing him as per the Conception Plus post-classmating, though she goes on to accuse him of not having had a bath, giving you the options of 'I hate baths / Recently, I don't remember exactly / Of course I did'. No passenger/captain setup, though with the rewrites I'm sure it'll follow through in Plus even so. Psycho Knight posted:In Mahiru’s event, Itsuki finds the cafeteria to be busier than usual and that everyone is eating some kind of cake. Mahiru mentions that hers finally got onto the menu. This scene is basically the same, though the cake is named as 'Mahiru's Dream' in Conception. Also, you typoed the student letter there (twice). Psycho Knight posted:There’s a suspiciously long fade to black, but it may just be a time skip because when it comes back it is now evening. Mahiru says that it’s getting dark and Itsuki says they should really head back, but Mahiru stops him. She says that she wants to knit him a hat as a gift for next time, so she needs to measure the size of his head. Technological Conception Plus advances - in Conception the entire scene plays out in daylight then it cuts to the confusingly sunset CG, then back to the daylit forest. Polsy posted:Meanwhile they seem to have abandoned trying to write around Mahiru's personality and are straight up writing new scenes. Honestly this is probably for the best. (the promise is still cleared up although it's exactly your prediction, 'When we grow up, let's get married' rather than what we got here) I didn't specify back here in the promise setup event because I wasn't sure how it was going to play out in Plus but in Conception 10 years ago Itsuki kissed her in the forest, so she's just 'recreating the scene' and doesn't have to invent excuses about measuring his head.
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Feb 26, 2020 01:54
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:First thought regarding things Reone says is that they wind up creating a Bond Eater. Second thought comes back to the 'Classmating messes with your mind' theory. Still not on board with the Classmating theory, but I cannot deny that it is plausible. The game doesn't appear to have any scenes discussing it further (those were the last Classmating scenes and there are no Narcisstes scenes where we can ask him about it), so it's not like I can really argue against it. My only opposition comes from the fact that I don't believe the writers had any interest in coming up with that kind of deeper lore. Raitzeno posted:I like that Femiruna's profile makes absolutely no attempt to beat around the bush or play coy in any way. Just, bam, there it is. Has that always been there or does it only show up as the route progresses? I think Femiruna's profile was the one I checked that sort of spoiled me way back in Bond Level 2 and is the reason I have avoided going to that tab in the profile section ever since. Only the first of each section in the profile is initially revealed, but the rest open up very shortly after you start bonding with the maidens. Like I said, I think the profiles are completely revealed by Level 2 or 3, which is like 2 dungeons into the game. I think Arie's "secret" can be spoiled before she ever even hints at her weapon hobby, because her profile lists something like "Bladed Weapons" under "Likes". I think the idea was to give you hints at what gifts the Maidens would like, but in practice it just spoils details about their routes. I will show off everyone's profile in the next dungeon update, because there are some details that the character routes actually don't seem to reveal or even imply. Mahiru's is especially... revelatory. Let's just say that she would apparently get along well with Femiruna... And yeah, I know the writers have no actual clue what the hell their magic garbage does. It's been a major sticking point for me with these two games. They don't do world building at all. This does seem like an event that Tarua should have had ages ago. I was hoping that hers would turn around, but there's only one left now, so there's no chance at doing anything with her. Again, I do not hate Tarua. I don't like that she's clearly a child in a game where she's supposed to be a romantic interest, but as a character she's fairly inoffensive. The problem is that her entire route has been nothing. Forget drama (which you don't necessarily need to have a good character), we don't even have interesting conversations with her. She's basically an NPC. Polsy posted:Nice, can't even tell that's not the original. It's only because the image is small. There is some jagginess visible in between her hair strand and head on the right. I'm not great at image editing. Polsy posted:That feels like what it's meant to be but the grammar is all over the place. Alas the closer we are to the end the harder it is to find Japanese Let's Plays covering these, either because they favoured other maiden(s) or they didn't actually finish the game at all. That's understandable. Can't imagine there were many Japanese players interested in doing 100% playthroughs of this. Complete event scenes posted online seem more like a Western thing, or at least a Youtube thing. Polsy posted:Mahiru rewriting in full effect here, though the Conception version is pretty generic 'I bet you say that to all the girls' 'No, just you' stuff. It does include her sniffing him as per the Conception Plus post-classmating, though she goes on to accuse him of not having had a bath, giving you the options of 'I hate baths / Recently, I don't remember exactly / Of course I did'. No passenger/captain setup, though with the rewrites I'm sure it'll follow through in Plus even so. Sounds like more nonsense changes just for the sake of it. Also, I didn't even notice that. Thanks. I was rushing the last parts of these updates because I was headed to class and also will be away from my PC until tomorrow afternoon. God, how did I look at that and see "D" though. I must be tired. Polsy posted:Technological Conception Plus advances - in Conception the entire scene plays out in daylight then it cuts to the confusingly sunset CG, then back to the daylit forest. At least it was a change for the better. That's something I suppose. Weird that the original would do something that blatantly wrong though. Polsy posted:I didn't specify back here in the promise setup event because I wasn't sure how it was going to play out in Plus but in Conception 10 years ago Itsuki kissed her in the forest, so she's just 'recreating the scene' and doesn't have to invent excuses about measuring his head. Ah, that's what was missing from this. Doesn't make the cousin aspect any better though.
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Feb 26, 2020 02:45
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Alfie's was...well...ok I guess Arie's was "horny" Mirei's was alien and robotic Ruka's was more of her usual "tsundere". I think this type is way over-done and it's comedic effects are over-exposed. Just get over your crap already! Femiruna's was an attempt to use her "masochist" tendancies in a classic fairy-tale way ("save me from my arranged marriage and let me be your slave forever" >blech<). Mahiru's was forgettable. The "cousins" thing is probably a mis-understanding of "close friends" or some other relationship. I refuse to believe they are promoting incest, but it is funny! Sue's was also ok but still kinda sad. She's lonely Yuzuha's was tragic Reone's was ok Farun's was kinda sweet. Probably the most stable and normal of them. For that she gets my vote. Tarua likes to run and looks too much like a small boy. It's honestly very creepy to me. Collete is second in the creepy category but at least it's acknowledged and playful about it. Her story was also kinda sweet. Lillie/Lillith. I don't actually mind their arc. Fortune telling is kinda weird to begin with, but I didn't find them too grating compared to others.
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Feb 26, 2020 03:52
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Alfie gets my vote but I admit Farun was a close second. She's been the nicest and most realistic one but Aflie's suffering deserves a happy end.
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Feb 26, 2020 03:58
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Mokinokaro posted:Alfie gets my vote but I admit Farun was a close second. She's been the nicest and most realistic one but Aflie's suffering deserves a happy end. mastersord posted:Various Opinions The nice thing now is that I'm pretty sure everyone will get a nice feel-good event in the next update. The final Bonding Event is usually where everything is wrapped up with a bow and put to rest, while the endings are usually happily-ever-after kind of things. So I think everyone will be relatively pleased with the next updates. Or at least, I hope so. I will be recording the events sometime tonight, so I don't actually know what happens in any of them in terms of details. I'm just guessing based on the cliche nature of these kinds of games. At the very least I'm banking on Yuzuha getting some type of miracle cure. Alfie got one after all. Also Collette's grandfather is probably on track for one. It would be kind of a dick move to leave Yuzuha as is.
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Feb 26, 2020 13:51
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Alfie got a cure for the whole "being dead" thing, but she may still have a shortened lifespan, who knows? The writers certainly seen to have forgotten they were hinting at the whole Star Maiden job being a 120+ year commitment. Also who the gently caress knows how Yuzuha's terminal case of Anime Narcolepsy interacts with that. Does she just end up in a coma for 100+ years?
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Feb 26, 2020 13:58
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Commander Keene posted:Alfie got a cure for the whole "being dead" thing, but she may still have a shortened lifespan, who knows? The writers certainly seen to have forgotten they were hinting at the whole Star Maiden job being a 120+ year commitment. Also who the gently caress knows how Yuzuha's terminal case of Anime Narcolepsy interacts with that. Does she just end up in a coma for 100+ years? All questions that we probably won't get answers for. The main thing I see happening with Alfie is that we now know that her dying isn't as permanent as it was supposed to be. My guess? She ends up returning to her Matryoshka every 10 years, but Itsuki is able to revive her using As for Yuzuha, you got me on that. If she doesn't get a miracle cure then who knows what's going to happen. Maybe there will be some revelation like "Because she is a Star Maiden, her shortened lifespan ends up equating to 40 more years". Seems like the illness cuts the life expectancy down a third, so a third of 120 would be 40 years. That would end up allowing Yuzuha to live to her mid-50's, which isn't that bad all things considered. No matter what happens, I don't think the creators of this game have the balls to stick in an ending where one of the waifus winds up dying a few years after the ending. I doubt they would even have the guts to leave it implied or up to player interpretation. I'm sure some deus ex machina will swoop in for Yuzuha. I'm also expecting (although not quite as much because of the message being delivered) that it will happen for Alfie as well. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Feb 26, 2020 |
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Feb 26, 2020 14:28
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Psycho Knight posted:
Mercifully found a source for this since it bugged me. Itsuki should be saying 'But, I have more good things to say', which makes it all fall into place.
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Feb 26, 2020 22:06
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Polsy posted:Mercifully found a source for this since it bugged me. Itsuki should be saying 'But, I have more good things to say', which makes it all fall into place. How did that mutate into "But there are some good things about that"? I'm starting to think that the thing about the Japanese team doing the English translation is true. At this point, I will be incredibly sad if we learn that an English team was reponsible for this mess.
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Feb 26, 2020 22:32
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Psycho Knight posted:How did that mutate into "But there are some good things about that"? No, it's okay. A Portuguese team just went ahead and did all the languages for the EU release.
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Feb 26, 2020 22:37
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Psycho Knight posted:How did that mutate into "But there are some good things about that"? My only guess is they were still looking at the following 'Things you'd like' line - if you replaced the 'say' part of the first line with the 'things' from the second line that's more-or-less what you'd end up with when translated. You'd have to not be paying attention and also not rereading what you wrote to manage that, though (also not getting QC'd, but we knew that)
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Feb 26, 2020 22:42
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Raitzeno posted:No, it's okay. A Portuguese team just went ahead and did all the languages for the EU release. I'd laugh at that, but it's very possible given what we've seen from SC so far and that makes me sad. Polsy posted:My only guess is they were still looking at the following 'Things you'd like' line - if you replaced the 'say' part of the first line with the 'things' from the second line that's more-or-less what you'd end up with when translated. You'd have to not be paying attention and also not rereading what you wrote to manage that, though (also not getting QC'd, but we knew that) I guess. It still seems like a lazy screw up that editors should have caught, but I suppose I really shouldn't be expecting a lot from SC at this point. This isn't like a Voice Actor situation where they don't have full context for the scene. You've got the full script in front of you, it should be obvious when a conversation is reading strangely or doesn't look natural (Unless they have been assigning the different translators to different characters and just piecing it all together afterward like a horrifying quilt). Again, I will be surprised if we learn that this was done by SC's North American branch. According to the company's LinkedIn profile, they do have editors working at that place. There's no excuse for this many errors in the dialogue. If it was put out for free or it was a budget title, then fine. But this game was full price. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Feb 27, 2020 |
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Feb 27, 2020 15:22
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Psycho Knight posted:This isn't like a Voice Actor situation where they don't have full context for the scene. You've got the full script in front of you, it should be obvious when a conversation is reading strangely or doesn't look natural (Unless they have been assigning the different translators to different characters and just piecing it all together afterward like a horrifying quilt).
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Feb 27, 2020 16:05
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Psycho Knight posted:How did that mutate into "But there are some good things about that"? I'm a bit late to the punch on this one, but I corrected a line for you: "How did that mutate into 'But there are some good things about that',,," Psycho Knight posted:I'd laugh at that, but it's very possible given what we've seen from SC so far and that makes me sad. Will we ever get an answer as to why,,, Was this laziness, or an honest mistake,,, (Apologies, but I'm still baffled as to how you typo a ? as three commas.)
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Feb 27, 2020 16:08
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The Flying Twybil posted:I'm a bit late to the punch on this one, but I corrected a line for you: "How did that mutate into 'But there are some good things about that',,," My mistake. I guess I've been rushing so much that my grammar is slipping. I probably screwed that up a bunch of times in the past few updates. I will make sure to go back and change every instance of "?" into ",,,", as it should be. Mokinokaro posted:Sadly this isn't that uncommon. Often what the localization team get is just a script dump into spreadsheets and depending on the engine that can be sorted differently (by character, by scenes but our of order, etc.) I mean, obviously I don't work in the industry, so maybe that is some complex technique that is the best way to do it, but as an outsider that seems horribly inefficient and needlessly convoluted. Forget things like context, how much time does it take to slot everything in to its proper place when all you have is a bowl full of words,,, Not to mention that this still doesn't explain the lovely spelling and grammar situation. For a third party company that licences something and then gets the script from the developer, I can sort of understand. The dev got paid for the license after all, so they're just going to give you the bare minimum and it's the licensee that has to figure out a way to make it work. But this is Spike Chunsoft localizing their own games. Anyway, in update news, I start working on the last bonding update tomorrow when I get home. I've decided to do a full event for everyone rather than the summaries we've had so far. The final bonding events are actually fairly short (except Mahiru's for some reason), so I figure I'll give everyone's favourite characters a chance in the spotlight. I also won't mess with the dialogue so that I don't inadvertently ruin the moment (although that also means some of them will be ruined anyway because of how little emotion Itsuki is able to muster at random times). I'm also going to figure out something for the final Star Child Teams on my own, since there haven't been any suggestions. Maybe I'll turn the top 8 posters in this LP into Star Children and make two teams out of them. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Feb 27, 2020 |
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Feb 27, 2020 17:14
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The Flying Twybil posted:(Apologies, but I'm still baffled as to how you typo a ? as three commas.) I'm pretty sure they tried to trail off in an ellipsis instead of actually ending in a question mark... and typo'd those periods into commas.
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Feb 27, 2020 18:21
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Bonding Update XX: Final Bonding Events (Part 2) – Ophiuchus, Aries, Leo, Cancer, Capricorn, Libra Here’s the last of the Bonding Events. After this, the only Maiden specific events that are left are the endings and some side stuff (like the Beach Events and Flower Viewing). Because these are the last events of each Maiden’s character arc (and also because many of these events are shorter than what we are used to), I’ll throw out the polling results and give every Star Maiden a full event. There will be no summaries this time. Everyone gets a turn in the spotlight.  That said, we’re still going to follow polling order. Alfie is up first. Oh, and I won’t mess with Itsuki’s dialogue for these. I don’t want to inadvertently ruin anybody’s “big moment” with my personal biases or head-canon. I’ll save that for my snarky in-between commentary. ~Day Camp~  You look happy. Did something happen? Ehehe… The Day Camp is taking the day off.Slackers. I need new Star Children. Get them back to work, now! And Itsuki, you came to visit me, just like I thought you would! Didn’t you send me a message earlier? You said it was your day off, so you wanted to deepen our bond. A-Anyway, let’s go to the beach. Fair enough. You apparently don’t get a Seasonal Beach Event like everyone else because your inclusion was half-assed, so this is really your only chance to show up in a swimsuit. I’m fine with it… but how’s the scar on your back doing? Ehehe… Don’t underestimate the healing properties of a former Star Child. So it’s gone already…? …Would the scar have made it a problem? I guess it’s kind of embarrassing for people to see, but still. I see… Oh… but if we go now, we’d get there in the evening. It’ll be too cold to wear a swimsuit then. Leave that to me! I’ll take full responsibility… I’ll take you to the secret beach that’s warm 24 hours a day! Is there really such a convenient place? Yessiree! Now let’s go to Sunset Beach! I can’t wait!~Sunset Beach… I guess?~ This is the usual beach… But it sure is warm… Actually, it’s pretty hot. Ah, of course! Star Energy! The answer for literally everything you can think of except curing Yuzuha’s fantasy illness, or Reone’s brother’s disease, or Alfie’s shortened life span. Cobra’s Weather Dominator though? No sweat, apparently. She said it was to atone for everything that happened, but… Ehehe… I’m really thankful for her. I’m glad you two were able to make up. Yes… It usually empties out around now, so we can relax all by ourselves. How about I go and get changed now? The dressing room’s over there, so I’ll go and get changed too. Oh, and…No peeking, right? Yeah? Just because we’re along together… …Is that really the right pose for that line?*After a brief changing clothes time skip* Ta-da! Nice. I was waiting for you. At the very least it’s not insanely revealing. Granted, most of the swimsuits in this game are fairly modest, even Reone’s. Super cute. It’s a great look for you. Ehehe… Look at this too. Ta-da! That’s great, although we don’t really have a reference for how it looks because we never saw how bad the scar was. Alfie… I’m so glad you’re better now. I feel much more at ease. Ehehe… Now I’m fully recovered! Let’s go swimming. You’re wearing a swimsuit, after all. Well… to tell you the truth… I can’t swim.  It’s the typical thing to do on beach dates at sunset. All right. Let’s do that then. But I’m surprised you can’t swim. You’re so athletic.It’s not that much of a surprise. Doesn’t seem like something that Star Children would have to learn. *Time skip again. Not entirely sure why since they are just sitting down to talk* The sunset is pretty… Sitting here together like this… It really makes it look like we’re lovers. Are you worried about any illicit activities occurring between us? N-No! It’s not that… *sigh*… I wonder if that God’s Gift and Star Maiden went on dates like this back then. Speaking of, that God’s Gift enshrined the Star Offering and went back, right? They can do that no problem? Then why are the Maidens getting so downcast about not being able to stay with Itsuki? I mean, for some of them it makes sense (Collette and Farun would be leaving their families behind for example), but I’m not sure what’s holding down someone like Reone now that her whole hospital thing is complete and she plans to quit being the Palace Physician. I sort of figured there would be some Star Maiden force that would prevent them from leaving Granvania. I’m sure they’re in that world together now… How lucky.I wonder if any of the former God’s Gifts have ever tried to find others like them? I’d definitely immediately start googling poo poo like “Granvania”, “Star Energy”, or “God’s Gift” after getting back home. Then again, I guess since it’s only every 10 years, there probably aren’t a ton of former God’s Gifts around that would be heavily involved online. Internet has only been around commercially for a few decades after all. Do you want to go to Sora? No. I intend to stay here in Granvania. But the God’s Gift at the time… He did say what a wonderful place Sora is. … Huh…? Is it not?I mean… I think it’s better than Granvania, because the people in this world suck rear end, but Sora’s got no shortage of its own problems. I don’t really know… The adults of Sora say the modern world isn’t as good as it used to be.That’s because they’re old. Every generation thinks that things were better when they were kids (except maybe the generations from 1910-1950 I suppose).  But I don’t dislike Sora. You like Granvania too, right? Yes… It’s so hot right now… Hey, Alfie. The sun’s about to set. Do you wanna take a dip in the water before it gets dark? If we stay in the shallow parts, it’ll be fine even if you can’t swim. R-Right… Maybe just a little.*It’s splashing time!* Ehehe… Hey, Alfie! Get ready! Huh?!*The screen starts shaking a tiny bit, which I guess means Itsuki is splashing water on Alfie* O-Oh, please! Stop that! No way! Come on! Do it back to me! U-Um… Let’s really stop this… Ahhh!*The screen then fades to white slowly for a moment. When it fades back in, Alfie is slightly closer than before* That was a spectacular fall, Alfie. Are you all right? Ugh… I’m drenched now… Sorry… I didn’t know you’d hate it that much. Here, give me your hand. … Wait, what’s on your back… Huh…? The scar… Oh… D-Don’t look! This is from back then… I-I’m sorry I lied! I… You seemed so worried about the scar ever since… So I wanted to ease your mind… Alfie… Itsuki? I’m sorry… It’s my fault that I made you feel this way…It was kind of a dick move. It’s really not, Itsuki… Alfie… Can we… stay like this, just a little longer? Yes… I wouldn’t mind staying like this forever… Aww. That was sweet, wasn’t it? Gonna warn you right now, not everyone gets a CG or that length of a final event. Alfie’s was a little longer than the others, probably because she generally has less screentime than the other Maidens. Mahiru’s is also weirdly long, which… I don’t actually know why she gets to have an extended final event. Anyway, for the most part the following events will be shorter and only a few CGs will pop up.  ~Star God Academy Church~ Itsuki, how about we pray together today? Are you sure he’s watching? He seems like kind of a lazy rear end in a top hat. Much time has passed since we first met… And I think the distance between us has significantly closed. I think so too. I can feel your heart is closer to mine. Itsuki, I love you. Arie…We get choices here, although I’m not sure why. The options are “I like you”, “Thanks”, and “I love you too”. No matter what you pick, I’m pretty sure the event ends basically the same way. I love you too. Really? And that’s not from my duty as God’s Gift either. I really do love you, Arie. That’s wonderful, Itsuki. It’s wonderful how our hearts seem to be beating together. Now I can swear an oath upon the Star God. What kind of oath? That my heart shall never leave you side. Another choice pops up here. Choices are slight variations on the same answer: “Let’s make that oath right away.” (Best choice), “Do we really need an oath?” (Probably the bad choice), and “I’ll allow it” (Probably the neutral choice). Let’s make that oath right away. Oh? Then… can I assume you’re fine with it? Itsuki, this makes me so happy.…Is homeboy getting married right now? Is that what’s going on? Then… Itsuki, please close your eyes with me. … All right.*The screen then goes black for this part*  that no matter how apart our bodies may be, our hearts shall always be one. In sickness and in health… I pledge my love to you. Itsuki, please say the same.Yep, sure looks like a marriage is happening. Of course. My Lord… I, Itsuki, swear to Arie… that no matter how apart our bodies may be, our hearts shall always be one. Itsuki, thank you. You can open your eyes now. Yeah… Now we will always be together. Yeah.Jesus, Itsuki. You essentially got married. Could you summon up just a tiny bit of emotion for this? My heart is filling with even more love for you, Itsuki. I’m happy to have pledged this oath… Is that all we need to do? Hm? poo poo… uh… Wait, no! I’m pretty sure we’ve got a Diamond ring or something in our giant pile of items. It’s cool. Itsuki should be prepared. Proof? What do you do in your world after this? We… kiss…Or I guess you could to that, too. The item horde is right over there if you change your mind.  Yeah… … I-I do not have any experience with this… So I may become too nervous and do something rude… That goes for both of us. Right… but… ... Arie suddenly goes in for the kiss and the scene fades out just as it happens.  That’s more like what you can expect from the rest of these events. Alfie’s and Mahiru’s are just kind of exceptions. With the bar now set, it’s on to Femiruna, who also does not get a CG for this event. ~Femiruna’s Home~  …You there, Femiruna?*The screen fades to black for a second to cover for the fact that they can’t make Femiruna appear on screen directly ahead (she walks towards Itsuki when the screen fades back, implying that she came down the stairs, but the game can’t show her walking down them and she can’t walk in from the side like usual)* Good, you have arrived. I felt like talking to you for some reason today. Itsuki, do you have a dream you strive for? That came outta nowhere… I wouldn’t call it a dream. It’s more of a goal. I wanna fulfill my mission in this world and return to mine. Right. You have had that dream since coming here.  It is to become a proper lady and make an elegant debut in the association. That has been my dream ever since I was small… I have no other path aside from that.That sounds like something that your parents brainwashed you into. But being a Star Maiden, I began attending the academy… And I met you… Something within me changed because of all that. What’s your dream now, Femiruna? I want to leave the manor and see the vast world around me. I want to learn more than I already know… That is my current dream. So you wanna fly from the nest. Then when I’m able to return to my world, do you wanna come with me? Huh…?! I-I cannot do that! How you feel is far more important. My own feelings…Slow it down, Itsuki. Listen, I get the sentiment, but you’re not telling this girl to run off to Europe or some poo poo for summer vacation. You are asking if she wants to leave her entire life behind, including her parents, forever. This decision isn’t something Femiruna can undo once it’s made. Even if the Gate of Light or whatever does reappear in 10 years, you sure as gently caress don’t know where in the world it’s going to open and it only seems to appear for like 30 seconds, at best. I want you to do what you want. Can you really leave things as they are now? I… I want you to do what you think is right. If there’s something you wanna do, do it. Holding back isn’t like you. I would appreciate if you did not imply I was egotistic. I consider many things. My true desire is to experience the outside world, but…  I do not believe I can survive by myself if I were to leave this manor behind. Then… do you think you’d be all right if you were with me? Huh… Th-That could work… I’ll help any way I can to ease your anxieties. Let’s do this together. I-I must not do so. That cannot be allowed. I’m sure everyone will understand. There’s nothing to fear if we’re together.No, I don’t think everyone will understand. You’re talking about her parents never seeing their only daughter ever again because she ran off with some teenager from a different world.  Femiruna… Fine, whatever. Let’s play into this girl’s masochistic fetish and separate her from her parents forever. Stop thinking and just come with me! Ahhh! Wh-Why did you shout so suddenly?! You scared me! Why are you always like this…Because you told him to be like this? Femiruna. Ah… I will make you happy. Just follow me. Oh… Um… But… You’re still worried? I, um… would like for you to prove it with your actions. All right. Ah…*Kissing happens* How’s this? And that’s all. Listen, it was still a sweet scene (at least I think so… mostly… kind of), but I can’t help looking at this and going “Her parents are going to wake up and find out that Femiruna disappeared into a different dimension with a teenaged boy she met like a year ago.” I had the same problem with Inuyasha. Kagome abandons her family (including her widowed mother) and close friends to run off with some boy she barely knows. For all intents and purposes, she essentially commits suicide. I cannot look past that aspect and focus on the “I love you” stuff. Then again, I am a jaded and cynical adult now instead of an impressionable and short-sighted teenager (who would definitely be looking at poo poo like this and thinking it was the most beautiful ending that could ever be imagined). That might explain it.  Oh well. No need to dwell on that, I guess. Plenty of time to rant about it once we find out what actually happens in Femiruna’s ending. Maybe Itsuki ends up staying with her (which presents a small problem of its own, I will admit). Ruka time is go. Ruka is one of the lucky few to get a CG for her final event. I should clarify that everyone gets a CG for their ending, so this isn’t the last chance for more artwork of the Maidens. ~Star God Academy Classroom~  The club got disbanded, so I guess that’s to be expected… …Why are you here?*Ruka enters, stage left*  I just felt like coming here is all. What about you? Same for me. I just felt like it. Class was over, yet I found myself here… I feel like I still have some things left undone for the club… Like to deepen our bond? Yeah… You told me that when we first made the club.  I just remembered that right now… … I was thinking… We’ve deepened our bond so much… How you feel…? Do you mean…We can finally hear the sounds of gears in Itsuki’s head starting to turn. Lean over and stick your forehead out first. I’m actually really annoyed at you. You barged your way into my heart, but you never let me see what’s inside yours.Well that’s because you can’t, because your powers have only ever been implied. I’m always at my limit, but you probably never even notice. I’m sort of reaching that point as well. I miss Wake. LP Wake, I mean. Official Wake is kind of dense in his own right. I won’t be satisfied until I flick your forehead as hard as I can. So that’s how you thought of me, huh… All right then. If that makes you happy, do whatever you need to. Close your eyes and clench your teeth then. Go for it.*The screen then goes black* …How’s this? Hmph. You’re playing it cool as usual. I’m going to go all out on you… This is a good CG for height comparisons. Ruka looks to be about half a head shorter than Itsuki (she’s standing on her toes in this CG). If we go purely by this CG, then Itsuki looks to be as tall or taller than Reone. Mm… …*And now the CG disappears and we’re back to 3D models* Ruka…? O-Of course it was a lie about how much I hate you. Now do you understand how I feel about you…? Loud and clear. Hehe… If you want to know my feelings again, I’ll do this again for you.  Hmph… It’s stuffy in this classroom. I feel like my face is on fire. …Okay. Now the club is disbanded for real. You should focus on fighting the Impurities and getting back to your own world. Even when you’re not around I won’t… I won’t feel… lonely… Ugh…Now see, Ruka’s ending I think would be perfectly fine for a “Come with me to my world” deal. She’s an orphan and she feels alienated in this world because of her Tsukuyomi thing. Who wants to bet that Itsuki stays in Granvania with her in her ending, though?  Ruka… I’m sorry…. D-Don’t apologize to me… *sniff*… It was already set in stone that you’d be going back to your own world.This really loses emotional impact now that we know that Star Maidens can totally go with God’s Gifts to Sora. Before Alfie’s final event, there was always some question about whether or not anyone other than God’s Gifts could pass through the return gate. Now we know that there’s apparently no barrier to doing that, though. I-It doesn’t matter to me at all! Ugh… *sniff*… Ruka… I will save the world. I promise you. It’s all right. I’ll be with you till the end.There’s also the fact that Itsuki seems to invite some Maidens to go with him back to his world but keeps silent with others whenever they start talking about having to be separated. Weird. I’ll try to send you off with a smile… The after hours club is over, but I’ll wait for you at the church next time. I don’t want to, but I’ll still do the ritual with you, so stop by anytime… Yeah. Thanks, Ruka. Y-You’re welcome! …Now go. Even though we’re destined to be apart… Please, don’t forget that. Farun’s turn. Farun also gets to have a CG for this event. In case you’re wondering, everybody seems to get 3 CGs + 1 Ending CG. They aren’t all evenly spaced out though (2 out of 3 Tarua CGs are in her Level 5 Events. Same for Yuzuha). Some of them are also shifted to side events (which is why Collette got that Festival CG). I think Reone and Ruka have their 3rd CG during the Beach Event (Reone’s second CG will be during her final event coming up in a little bit). ~Tavern~ …Heya, Itsuki. Welcome.  There were so many people here drinkin’ an’ makin’ merry a li’l while ago… It’s like the reverberations are still here. I like it when it’s like this. It just feels a li’l sad an’ heart wrenchin’. But it’s still fun…Yeah, it sure sounds fun to listen to rowdy drunk people for hours at a time. It makes me think… that the fun stuff will come again.  Oh, don’t forget to lock the door.*Itsuki presumably locks the door* …Now then, Itsuki. We have plenty of time. Let’s chat. We can talk ‘bout tons of stuff. So, what do ya wanna talk ‘bout?We were promised an explanation of what you wrote in that letter to your parents. Cough it up. About you, Farun. Ahaha! I guess ya would wanna talk ‘bout Big Sis Farun.  …Just kiddin’. Itsuki, thanks for talkin’ with me all these times. But I’m sorry… Please lemme talk ‘bout myself one more time. I want ya to know everythin’ ‘bout me…Sweet. Start with what the hell happened when you left home and basically disowned your entire hometown. I’m curious about that. Um… Where do I start… Just go at your own pace. I’ll be following along. Yeah, thanks… …As ya know, I’m a travelin’ dancer. I go from trip to trip, place to place, all alone an’ free.  I went to many places, saw many vistas, an’ had tons of fun. That ain’t a lie. But… is that all? Is that really all I wanted to do? I asked myself that. I couldn’t find the answer, which is why I couldn’t tell my parents.Aw, I was expecting something a bit more dramatic behind the “I don’t want to write to my parents” thing. So… did you find your answer? …Yeah. I think… I was lookin’ for someplace just for me. No matter where I was, I always felt a bit lonely an’ restless. Everyone goes home after this. To where they can unwind. But I don’t have that. I was always lookin’ for it. I was lookin’ for a place to feel at ease. My very own place I can call home.Your very own home, different from the home that you had but left behind. I’m not being snarky, just clarifying that Farun wasn’t some vagrant or orphan.  Did you find it…? Yeah. Right there. F-Farun…? It’s right here. This… is where I can feel most at ease in the whole wide world… This is the final stop on my travels… I wrote that in my letter. There was much more to it, but, simply put…  Hehe. That’s what I truly feel. I… also like you, Farun.Reminder: I’m not rewriting Itsuki dialogue for these. He really does just say “like”. It’s not a choice thing either. …Thank you. I didn’t think I’d ever experience this moment. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Ever since I met you… My life’s full of so much happiness… I hope we’ll continue on like this. Of course. Hehe… Say… I’m gonna say somethin’ weird right now. I wanna say somethin’ special. What’s that? It’s a phrase I thought would have nothin’ to do with me as a traveler… I wanted to say it once I found a place that put me most at ease in the world… I wanna say it while I’m in your arms… What is it…? Tell me. M’kay… … I’m home, Itsuki… In the place I feel most at ease in the whole world… Bein’ in your arms is my home… This is where my travels end… Itsuki… Itsuki… I won’t ask ya to always be with me. It can just be for right now… I wanna be together even if it’s only for this moment… … *A time skip apparently happens that spans the entire night, because when we come back…* Mornin’, Itsuki! Huh…? Oh, it’s already morning… That’s right. It’s a wonderful mornin’. Hehe. Ain’t ya goin’ to the labyrinths today? Ya sure ya can do it when you’re such a sleepyhead?Eh, it’s mostly committing monster genocide by God’s Poking every living creature on Floors 1-10. He’ll be fine sleepwalking through that. I’m just grinding up new Star Children after all. Right. I better go… Come on! Up ya go! Cheer up! I know. Big Sis Farun will give ya a cheerleadin’ dance! Here goes! A one, an’ a two… Hey, it’s better than what you did in the anime adaption. Ta-da! Ahaha. Feel better now? Yeah, thanks, Farun. Hehe. Take care. Thanks. Hey, Itsuki. Hold up. Um… …Ahaha. Good luck. Take care now! Yeah. I’m off. …Yeah. This is enough for me. Thank ya, Itsuki. I’m glad we were able to meet.That was a sweet event, although personally I think it dragged longer than it needed to in places. That CG portion of the event should have cut at “I’m home.” I think that would have been the perfect moment to end that part on.  Mirei also doesn’t get a CG, which is a little odd now that I think about it… Where does her 3rd CG show up? We had that Bath CG, then we had the glasses off kiss CG thing from the last event, but where’s the other? …It wasn’t the festival… pretty sure it’s not the beach… it wasn’t Starmas… I could have sworn that I already completed the Flower Viewing events… Huh… Did they really shortchange Mirei on CGs or am I forgetting one? ~Mirei’s Laboratory~ Oh, Itsuki. You’re here. We’re doing research today, right? What will it be today? All right. So an interview then. I’ll sit down. You can bring out the restraints. No, Itsuki. I want to talk to you normally. Are you sure about that? I thought you got more “accurate data” when I was restrained. Blasphemy! Data is the most important thing in Anime! …Or maybe that’s just specifically combat data. You’re so fascinating… Your whole existence is charming to me. But the compilation of your data doesn’t explain your charms. I have to look directly at your face and hear your voice… So Itsuki is a pretty face and not much else, basically. Is that what that means? So I want to talk normally… That is how I want to experience this. I have fun just talking to you too. Heheh… My old self… My old self would have thought it to be a waste of time… I know, Itsuki. There’s something I want to tell you.  To my world? Yes. It will be the most difficult research I’ve ever done.…There’s a portal that opens whenever a Star Offering is enshrined (normally). I guess you’re talking about a permanent way to Sora? I would heavily advise against that.  It’s not going to go well for the Magic Fantasy World. But I think it’s worth doing. Though, the goal seems so far away… You can do it, Mirei. Heheh. Of course I can. Who do you think I am? I have new motivation now compared to the other times. Why look into this now of all times? When everything ends, you will return to Sora. When you do, I won’t be able to continue my research. There are no other research subjects like you. I must continue to research you. Mirei… In that case, let’s go together. See what I mean about this? Where was all Itsuki’s talk about “coming with me” when Ruka was basically in tears? But… Why would you want me? I don’t have interesting topics to speak of, and I only know how to research. But I like that about you, Mirei. I wanna be with you. … You really are strange… Oh, Itsuki. I’ve just thought of another piece of research. Huh? I suddenly want to learn that. This is rooted in my desire to research. So this… is just research… You understand, right? Wh-What? Why… are you getting so close? Don’t move.*Mirei goes in for a kiss*  …What do you think? I’m… surprised. You’re so mysterious… No matter how much I learn about you, I want to learn even more. I don’t think I’ll ever know everything about you. But… that makes you the best research specimen there is. So, I’m still a research specimen? I don’t know of any other word. I don’t want to lose you. You are that important to me. I feel the same. Heheh… Of course… Ah… You’re so warm… Itsuki… I’m glad I met you… You taught me so much when I knew nothing… Nothing of this warmth… of these emotions… Please… hold me gently…And that’s the last of the Focus Maidens. I did say I would continue with the others though, so let’s keep the sentimental train rolling in the next update. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Apr 19, 2020 |
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Feb 29, 2020 03:24
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Arie's bonding events always seem to be one or two events past where everyone else is. She told Itsuki she loved him halfway through her events, had her big revelation (her love of weapons) before everyone else, and now has basically married Itsuki when everyone is only now telling him they love him. She's getting my vote just for how proactive she is.
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Feb 29, 2020 07:20
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